PA eyes final accord within 6 months of summit

The current opportunity for peace, as well as the urgency of the current worsening conditions which ensure that the current peace effort will be the LAST PEACE EFFORT require a final conclusion to the peace procces, ie, the peace, before Bush leaves office. The peace is possible within 6 months, given the motivation on ALL SIDES. America's future depends on this intensity. Israel's future depends on this intensity, and Palestine's and the region's future depends on the most intensive committment to achieving peace on a fast track. The peace is more important than maintaining Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu in the Knesset coalition, if they can not stand it. The Israeli public must understand the importance of this last chance for peace, and the tremendous benefits it will bring in a win-win peace victory for ALL sides.

The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script. It is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith: لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله la ilaha ill allah muhammadun rasul allah "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger"

I dont believe your timeline of names and inhabitants of the region really served any purpose. I never disputed any of the things you say......all I was doing was stating to Jackie that the name "Palaistina" was in place for almost 6 centuries prior to when she said it was. I believe your statement even supports mine. I happen to also believe, as you do, that we need to deal with this whole situation in terms of modern day facts on the ground, instead of as an ancient land dispute. When the leaders of the PA and Israel move out of the dark ages and into our way of thinking then and only then will we see a real and lasting solution.

The British tried to make Israel's membership contingent, but were voted down. The Arab states attempted to draw Israel's acceptance out endlessly through and unprecedented series of special sessions by ad hoc committees. It was at one of these sessions that Eban responded to the interrogations with the Government of Israel's position on Resolution 194, and that Israel intended to work for a peaceful solution, which Israel did by participating in the reconciliation commission mandated under Resolution 194. Nowhere did Eban agree to the refugees right of return or to making Israel's membership in the UN contingent, and the UN GA did not make any such condition on Israel's membership in the organization. You are simply wrong in this assertion that you continually make.

The moral of the story is that "normal" is what ever you are. Some of Life's most valuable lessons will be found in children's books. No wonder to me at all. I am just very thankful to be a parent.

When Annapolis leads to nothing Israel can expect her end is near. By not signing a just and clearly stated road map to return Palestine to it's rightful owners Israel will force the palestinians closer and closer to Hamas and embolden Iran. Only a fool would come unprepared.

Pete, if you know so much, you must also know that the old Palestina was equivalent to "Philistia," and that both Greek and Roman historians, long after Herodotus, knew the area as "Judaea." And that the name "Palaestina" was in fact re-introduced by Hadrian, although there was no longer a corresponding Philistine nation. The Philistines were mostly illiterate pagan proto-Greek sea-peoples. Not Arabs. When they mixed with the Canaanites, the Phoenicians were produced. No Arabs ever called themselves "Palestinian" under the Ummayads, or Abbasids. And with a two thousand-plus year hiatus in the existence of an identity, it can't be the same identity, even if the name is reintroduced and applied to a new group. In any event, what's going on now should be dealt with according to current realities, not ancient pedigrees. And that goes for both sides.

If it won't be a Palestinian state then Israel will be de facto a one state - the new Apartheid state.

Because then they'd have to admit that they too were wrong in the summer of 2005? And that their know-it-all leftist daydreams don't turn into reality? Not then and not now. And that a quick fix won't work now either. I guess that Haaretz doesn't think that the fact that it was so wrong about the disengagement is news. I'm starting to think the only thing that will change their worldview is being subjected forcibly to sharia law.

Oslo promised independence in 5 years. It has been almost 14 years since. If this can make Abbas happy, I will make the promise, and throw in a trip to the moon. The time allotted to negotiations over the final border and core issues in the Roadmap was TWO years. And this, AFTER phase 1 and 2 (establishment of a Palestinian state without final borders) were complete. Who would expect doing it in 6 months? They have already been arguing over the little Annapolis declaration for months, so how would solutions to everything be found in 6 months? P.S. There were 6 direct talks between Olmert and Abbas, were supposedly all the principles of Annapolis were agreed to. What happened to those agreements? Was Olmert deluding himself, or just us?

as it is the nation-state of the Jewish people that was established based on the right of peoples to national self-determination and statehood and based on UN resolutions. The fact that the PA does not recognize Israel's existence by right - not only by fact - is indicative of the Palestinians' long term goal regaring the Jewish state, goals that have not changed since Israel was proclaimed!!!

This time it is - in Annapolis.

Jackie, please learn some history yourself before telling others to learn your misinformation. Greek sources dating back to the 5th Century BC refer to the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza as "Palaistina".......an ancient Greek form of the modern "Palestine"

The PA is right. There must be a deadline for a final agreement. Indeed, the time to hold the conference is AFTER everything is agreed upon so that all parties can commit to the agreement and to its enforcement. This conference, on the other hand, is merely for the benefit of Bush and Olmert. Bush benefits by showing how committed he is to peace and to offset his true image as a war criminal. For Olmert it is a way to help Bush, to defer taking substantive actions, and most of all to gain implicit Arab recognition of Israel in return for doing nothing.

umm hamas has taken over gaza. how did you dismanlte that the terror infrastructures ??

Let's be pragmatic. Is this Israel's choice? because Gaza must not be forgotten as it holds an integral part of the Palestinian people. Therefore, Peace Negotations with the PA alone however favourable will be non-viable without the participation of Hamas, the governing body in Gaza whose Covenant calls for the 'Destruction of Israel. Therefore has Israel any other choice but to accept 'suicide' for the sake of the Final Accord as Arabs wish within Six Months.....? Arrogance sometimes knows no bounds.

minority of 33%jews,israel happily accepted the Partition.Re:194:the GA formally admitted israel to membership by means of Res.273(iii)of 11 May 1949 which said:"Recalling its resolutions of 29 Nov.1947 & 11 Dec.1948 & taking note of the declarations &explanations made by the rep. of the govt.of israel before the Ad hoc Political Committee . . " See Documents A/AC.24/SR.45-48,50 and 51. israel's rep. abba Eban,had given that assurance concerning the right of refugees to return.

no mention is made of Benjamin Eliezer saying: "The disengagement from Gaza was a big mistake..." http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380767666&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

I sincerely hope for an accord. However, history would dictate, the pals and arabs, not the israelis, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Whenever israel makes a promising move, which it has several times, it is met not only with nothing from the pals, but with disaster from the pals. Just look at the first major step in disengagement, that took place from the land (territory) of Gaza. Now its a rocket factory/base. You hear every day about what the pals want, but what besides a loosely held promise of peace do they offer. What tangibles compromises do they put forth on settlements, jerusalem, final borders....the operative word being COMPROMISES. At least the Israelis know they cant get absolutely everything they want. The pals are still in the dark about that conclusion.......

It?s a wonderful solution. The West is dividing the Arabs and not uniting them. If Jordan becomes a Palestinian state with a population of 12 million with Ramallah and Nablus part of it, that would be wonderful to Syria, Iran, and every Pan Arab citizen. I don?t think Israel will like that. I suggest that you stop reading the 3000 year old prophecies and do some thinking. I think your Israeli brothers may consider you suicidal. After all you will be giving more power to you enemies and turning your best ally King Abdullah to an enemy. I think Israel would like to see 4 states not 3. Jordan, Israel, The magnificent republic of the West Bank, and the ?you can find me with a magnifying glass Islamic Republic of Gaza.?

They've worked to dismantle terror organizations? Rejected violence? What a complete joke! They still have terrorists on their payroll! They still broadcast incitement on their media, etc. If this is their position the whole "peace process" is meaningless. Whatever they sign, they will do nothing and claim they are in compliance.

Michael, the parties have to really really agree first as to what they are doing--in the past full agreement isn't reached and schedules are put in place to either kick the can down the road or because the sides believe they can jigger the schedules to their advantage and force unilateral concessions on the other side while simply reconceptualizing terms to claim they've meet their own timetables (when they haven't). Then things go into breakdown. All the schedules in the world won't work if Mommy want's her son-in-law despising mother to come to the party and Daddy wants to bring his ex-wife, the Vegas stripper. The party will melt down sometime between Chuckes the Clown and cake and icecream.

So does the majority of Arab Israelis. They are lining up by the hundreds to claim citizenship. And not in Palestine.

Thats the solution, stop fighting it, 2 states, not 3. Jordan Palestine and Israel. IT will happen eventually because its the only thing that makes sense from a historical, logical, and fair agreement. Anything else is a cruel joke to all parties.

'But Scott, then why not give rights to the Arab population living on the "territories" of the Greater Land of Israel?' To give a simple answer is the same reason that no country in the world gives rights to foreigners. They aren't Israeli citizens. And that is not an apartheid approach, you do not even know what the term means.

Palestine was the name given by the Romans to Israel after they beat the Jews. There were no Muslims around then (Mohammed lived after Jesus and lonmg after Moses). The name Palestinian Mandate was given to the area taken by the UK after WW1 which was divided up and 70% given to form Jordan. Jews still living in the small remainder of tthe land were called Palestinians, and were part of UK armed forces in WW2. Learn some history before you start keyboarding.

when he claims Abu Mazen is a moderate. He received his doctyorate for Hol;ocaust denial and he was one of the financiers of the Olympic Massacre at Munich. Sorry, he has not for decades been a moderate; it's a mask he only donned recently.

your info is wrong. your historic info are not facts. your lies are so clear. Palestine existed before Israel did. looking forward, a peaceful and just settlement is advantageous for both people.

Implementation by Israel of Resolutions 181 and 194 (and certainly not under you interpretations) were never set as conditions of Israel's admission to the UN in 1949. If you can show evidence to the contrary, then please do. If not, then please stop repeating this lie.

Sure why not a divided state? This idea has worked so well in Germany, Ireland, Korea, Viet-nam, India/Packistan and United States of America that it used once again.

Abbas is playing to the Palestinians. He is trying to position himself to appear as strong as possible in defeat. He has gone from asking for a final accord, to asking for an agreement to have a final accord. He fully understands, I am certain, that nothing will come of Annapolis and that afterwards there will be no final accord. He is trying to position himself for an accord with Hamas after Annapolis.

This conflict is older than the hills. The Pals want everything giving up nothing. That there are 2 fronts, Hamas and fatah who murder one another, who shall Israel deal with? The demands from the Pals are impossible and Israel has given far more than any Pal in any areement. Israel becomes smaller and smaller while the Pals keep their people in squalor and poverty only to make more demands and blame Israel. Hamas is building a huge arsenal and Israel will have to fight again, and again for her very survival. Advice? Stall 'til Bush and gang are gone, then, stall some more. Take a page from the Arafat playbook. Olmert will be gone too. The US and Israel will have new elected leaders, so it's important to be sure beforehand that they will NOT give more of Israels land to terrorists. The Pals need new elections as well if they want progress. This stallmate is meant for some time to rethink this proposal. IT WONT WORK.

Probably a hard core of maybe 20 to 50 people. I think 20 is more like it. 8 to 10 of them publish books. Have College degrees. They write introductions to each others' books. Post them on websites. They really hate Israel. Blame Jews for everything. Want to see another Holocaust. They are nothing Israel. You go do your stuff Israel. Take care of your friends. Make sure your enemies eat it. I will continue to do my postings making sure they will eat it right here on Haaretz. Thanks fellow Jews for giving me this venue. Yo-Semite!

as in the percentage of "Palestinians" who support killing Israeli children. How convenient for you.

I don;t know if you are antisemitic or just naive. If these new Palestinians (I say new because they only became Palestinians arount 1972 before that they were simply Arabs of various national backgrounds from Saudi Arabian, Jordanian, Moroccon , Syrian etc.) If they wanted peace they would have shown it by not sending homicide bombers and not expressing their desire to destroy the State of Israel and driving all the Jews into the Mediterranean. The gall of them to demand that they get their new terrorist state within 6 months is chutapah in the extreme. And if US agrees to this then they might as well divert the US army from Iraq to Israel to do the driving---a move I trust that would please the antisemities of the world. I still have trust in my dear United States, if not Bush and Rice, that this cannot happen

wingers & liberals,but it is not going to happen.Too much water under the bridge!What is realistic is a two state solution,the historic compromise that Hamas has arrived at(rather than the unitary Islamic state).But,ofcourse,this will be based on the PLO Declaration of Independence(1988)calling for the Partition Line of 1947,plus Jerusalem as capital&right of refugees to return.Israel's very existence(de jure)depends on UN Resolutions 181(Partition)&194(ROR).These were the conditions under which it was admitted to the UN in 1949. For certain Hamas(and the Palestinians)will not accept the measly 22% of the Oslo!

time for the reality trip of 1923 palestine for arabs and theeeeir transfer there !

Binding agreement and timetable has/is/will/ be exploited for quarrels , contentions , blames in order to kill and murder , The lack of binding agreement and timetable has/is/will be exploited for quarrels , contentions , blames in order to kill and murder , Such was/is/will be the nature of the Israeli-Arab conflict wich per UNSC 242 goes beyond the Mideast , Consequently , Peace in the Mideast is the time between wars (by now intervaled around each 5 years) exacerbated by the daily urban terror attrition , political attrition , all sort of boycotts , ect... Why ? an answer may be that such situation is due to the falsification of truth , generations raised on propaganda , on cult , on idolatry , on fashion of the day policy, people may have grown accustomed to such environment , and in Israel wicked politicians get elected and keep their post by exploiting such atmospher , example of radical left wing extremists Abu Peres and Abu Beilin ,

population living on the "territories" of the Greater Land of Israel? Why this Apartheid approach?

Sure it must be the evil U.S. for refusing to kowtow to Arabs like the Euro-dhimmi. Israel exists. Learn to cope.

Oh sure, it has to be the Jews' fault. There is no such thing as Palestinian terrorism. Voici un actualite pour vous: Israel withdrew from Gaza and then terrorism increased. How do you guarantee that won't also happen in the West Bank. Of course you can say it can, staying out of danger in France.

we must remember that Abu Mazen has been around for donkey's years and have ALWAYS been against armed resistance as a way to gain liberation from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. He was and is the moderate voice in the PLO and as it's current Chairman sets the agenda. Thus the "sole representative of the Palestinian Nation" is for negotiations as a way to solve the core issues and to deliver a free and independent Palestine. This has led up to The Annapolis Summit and it is a make or break for Abu Mazen and for the peaceful agenda he promotes. If the summit fails to deliver, the PA will crumble and the PLO will elect another Chairman. It isn't as if "let's give it another try", this is it. Is Israel serious in letting go, or is it just another try to establish more ammo for the Status Quo. If, then the Tunis gang will have to pack up and leave.

Abbas claims that the PA has fulfilled its obligations. How, by taking weapons away from Al-Aksa. Has the organization been dismantled? Furthermore, what about Hamas, PFLP, and Jihad? Do they expect that a peace treaty would only be signed by Fatah and then the other factions can go on with the status quo? Not likely.

"Between preserving the Greater Land of Israel and preserving a Jewish majority in the country, 56% prefer the first objective, 27% the second, and 11% see them as equally important (2% think neither is important and the rest do not know)." and 71% support inflicting punitive measures on the civilian population of Gaza. So nothing "Jewish" at all really, they have come out for what they are -ruthless, vindictive and vile land thieves. The Tel Aviv University Peace Index

US policy in the Middle East is a hostage to the Jewish lobby and members of Congress and of course the Zionist Jews within the US administration. The US and sens the days of Johnson has been an abstacle to peace. Failure to put an time line to ending the occupation will make the negotiations useless and Israel is very good at taking full advantage of the absence of deadlines. The ever increase in settlement activities is but one example. Mahmoud Abbas, if he has any sense of self respect, he does not, should simply hand over the keys to Rice and Olmert and end the PA as an ongoing entity and let the people deal with the occupation in their own ways. The PA is nothing more than the Blackwater of Palestine, getting paid for protecting the Occupation and giving support to IDF in Nablus and other cities. What is the use of sending PA troops to Nablus if they could not protect the people from the IDF.

The Israeli extreme right wing anti-semites would rather keep the outposts and expand the illegal settlements then have peaceful Israel as a financial giant in the ME. Strange, but true. They claim to have the best of Israel's interest at heart, but they surely don't. They rather hate Arabs than love Israel. Fascism thrives of constant conflicts and wars. It brings the best out of boys they think and here we have the domestic core issue, to raise your children to love and to strive for peace or to hate and accept aggression as the solution to all problems. Israel is a split country in decay and it's only chance to even survive as a Jewish State is to let the territories go, or continue as the Apartheid state it has become, with values that nobody would like to call Jewish, and implode when those that have no right rise and demand their rights in a non violent mass movement. A Palestinian civil rights movement after a failed Annapolis calling for equal rights in a Bi-National state.

wicked Arab League with wicked Lefties thru wicked PLO/PA have converted the UNSC 242 principles into a 'Burning Bush" & "Fried Rice" process , The Famous Lincoln poster of " I want You " should not appease but point finger to those named above , included are of course wicked Abu Perers and wicked Abu Beilin irresponsibles ,

You don't run a kids' party these days without a time schedule, but we're supposed to believe that one of the most complex, contentious and difficult peace processes in history can succesfully run without one?