Amir Tsarfati: Special Middle East Update

[Butifldrm]

Palestinians free businessman who attended Bahrain workshop

Salah Abu Mayala, a businessman from the city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after attending the Peace to Prosperity workshop that had been boycotted by Palestine. (File/AFP)

Updated 30 June 2019

AFP

June 30, 201910:07

42

Salah Abu Mayala, a businessman from the city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was arrested Saturday

Trump adviser Jason Greenblatt said Sunday the White House was “pleased” with Abu Mayala’s release

HEBRON, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Authority has released from custody a West Bank businessman arrested for attending a US-led conference in Bahrain aimed at starting a Middle East peace effort, a family source said Sunday.
Salah Abu Mayala, a businessman from the city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was arrested Saturday and released late that night after taking part in last week’s conference which the PA boycotted.
The family of Abu Mayala, who is in his 70s and has health problems, refused to comment on the arrest when contacted by AFP, but a family source in the southern West Bank city said he was back at home.
The PA had decided to arrest Palestinians found to have taken part in the Manama economic conference, where US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner launched a long-awaited Middle East initiative.
The Palestinian leadership, which has boycotted the White House over a series of pro-Israeli moves including recognizing the disputed city of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, insists a political solution to the conflict with Israel must come before economic issues.
But at least three Palestinians took part in the Manama conference, including Abu Mayala and fellow Hebron resident and businessman Ashraf Jabari.
Speaking ahead of the Sunday cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abu Mayala, whose “sole crime was taking part in an economic conference aimed at advancing the Palestinian economy,” was released “due to American pressure.”
“One thing is clear here — the Palestinians are determined to continue the conflict at any price, including at the price of the Palestinians’ welfare,” he said.
“We, in contrast, are continuing to advance the ties with the Arab world, including today, and that serves everyone.”
Trump adviser Jason Greenblatt said Sunday the White House was “pleased” with Abu Mayala’s release.
He said on Twitter that the White House looked forward to further discussions with those who attended the workshop and “anyone else who wants a better future for the Palestinians.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1518406/middle-east

[Butifldrm]

Trump: We will announce the deal of the century tomorrow, Tuesday

Internationals

2020-01-27 | 12:29

Source:

Russia Today

11,570 views

US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will publish its Middle East peace plan known as the "Deal of the Century" at 17:00 GMT tomorrow, Tuesday.

Trump said, during a meeting with the head of the Israeli caretaker government, Benjamin Netanyahu, today, Monday, that the White House will publish the long-awaited peace plan at 12:00 Washington time (17:00 GMT), saying that this initiative "is very logical for to all".

 

Trump indicated that his plan would impress both Netanyahu and his rival, opposition leader of the "Blue-White" coalition, Benny Gantz, who will also meet him at the White House on Monday.

He also expected the "deal of the century" would also appeal to the Palestinians because it was "good for them" and was in their interest, he said.

For his part, the head of the Israeli caretaker government considered that the American President's peace plan in the Middle East might be "the opportunity of the century".

https://www.alsumaria.tv/news/دوليات/332771/ترامب-سنعلن-صفقة-القرن-غداً-الثلاثاء

[Butifldrm]

The American Peace Plan .. The Arab League holds an emergency meeting in the presence of Abbas

 

January 28, 2020

From a previous meeting of the League of Arab States

 

The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers on Saturday in Cairo in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss a peace plan that will be announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, according to what the university announced.

"The meeting will be held at the request of Palestine," Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki told reporters on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced a Middle East peace plan, which Israel called "historic," but the Palestinians had previously rejected it.

After more than two years of working silently and postponing the plan several times, the President of the United States set Tuesday the date for his "very big plan."

Trump will not be alone in this official announcement from the White House. Rather, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has received him since Monday in his Oval Office, will stand by him.

And Washington revealed last June the economic aspect of the plan, which requires investing about $ 50 billion in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries over a period of 10 years. But the details of this crack remain subject of speculation.

Palestinians say the plan requires Israel to annex the Jordan Valley, the vast strategic area in the West Bank, settlements in the Palestinian territories and recognition of Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel.

https://www.alhurra.com/a/اجتماع-وزاري-طارئ-للجامعة-العربية-السبت-حول-خطة-سلام-أميركية-بحضور-عباس/531273.html

[Butifldrm]

Trump’s Middle East plan forges unexpected unity in Palestinian ranks

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take part in an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. (AFP)

Short Url

https://arab.news/8c9hm

Updated 13 sec ago

DAOUD KUTTAB

January 29, 202002:39

406

• Reactions of rivals to Palestinian president's call for a meeting spark hopes of a unified response
• No Palestinian official was present at the launch ceremony in the White House on Tuesday

AMMAN: US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan appears to have produced an unexpected result: It has forged a tenuous unity among Palestinian politicians.
Local media reports suggested that both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group accepted a call by President Mahmoud Abbas for a meeting of the Palestinian leadership at the presidential compound in Ramallah, in the West Bank, on Tuesday night.
No Palestinian official was present at the launch ceremony in the White House on Tuesday. Palestinian leaders had rejected the plan in advance, saying it aimed to impose permanent Israeli rule over the West Bank.
There was no immediate reaction from Abbas, but a spokesman for his Fatah party said Trump’s plan “will go to the trash (heap) of history.”
Hussein Hamayel told Palestine TV that Trump was trying to “shift focus from his impeachment in the US,” but “neither Trump, nor anyone other than Trump can end the Palestinian cause.”
Reacting to the formal unveiling of the White House plan's political framework, Sami Abu Zuhri, an official of Hamas, the Palestinian group in control of the Gaza Strip, said: “Trump’s statement is aggressive and it will spark a lot of anger.
“Trump’s statement about Jerusalem is nonsense and Jerusalem will always be a land for the Palestinians. ... The Palestinians will confront this deal and Jerusalem will remain a Palestinian land.”
On Sunday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “The US administration will not find a single Palestinian who supports this project.

“Trump’s plan is the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause.”
Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, said: “What the Palestinians are being offered right now is not rights or a state, but a permanent state of Apartheid. No amount of marketing can erase this disgrace or blur the facts.”

Equally scathing was the statement of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington D.C., which said: “With this new plan, there is uncertainty in what the future holds for Palestinians.”
Other reactions were more measured. Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, said: “Jordan supports every genuine effort aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive peace that people will accept.”
He said the only path to a comprehensive and lasting peace was the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 lines and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, said: “The leaders discussed the United States’ proposal for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which could prove a positive step forward.”
The Arab League has said it will convene an urgent meeting on Saturday.
Trump presented his long-awaited plan, promising to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
Standing alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, at the White House, Trump proposed a two-state solution and said no Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes.

The blueprint was drawn up under the stewardship of Jared Kushner, Trump's Middle East adviser and son-in-law.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli military deployed reinforcements in the occupied West Bank and thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip.
Hani Al-Masri, executive director of Masart, a think-tank in Ramallah, said the semblance of Palestinian political unity is welcome but not sufficient.
“This is a positive move but what is needed is a holistic strategy in which all are involved,” he told Arab News.
Al-Masri called for a leadership-level meeting of all sectors of Palestinian society.
“We need political faction leaders, civil society leaders, leaders of women and youth groups to meet in order to agree on a comprehensive plan, not simply a one-time reaction to the latest Trump plan.”
Kayed Ma’ari director of the Witness Center for Citizens Rights in Nablus, told Arab News that President Abbas is trying to convey the message that there is a unified, not isolated, Palestinian rejection of the Trump plan.
“This call shuts all the cracks in the internal Palestinian wall that is facing up to the deal of the century,” he said, adding that “this will strengthen the efforts to show publicly this Palestinian rejection.”
However, Ma’ari warned that it is important “to build on this decision so that it is not an isolated reaction.”

Hamas politburo member Khalil Hayeeh said the group would join the Palestinian leadership meeting in Ramallah. “We welcome the call by Abu Mazen (Abbas) and we declare our full support to this call,” he said.
Ayman Daraghmeh, a former Hamas legislator, said he received a phone invitation from Fatah central committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad, who conveyed the invitation in the name of President Abbas to all former members from Hamas of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Khaled Batsh, head of the national relations committee of Islamic Jihad, said that the group would participate in the evening meeting in Ramallah on Tuesday.
“This meeting is not an alternative to a much wider meeting on the national level, which will agree on a national strategy to face up to the challenges confronting Palestinians,” he said.
Fahmi, a political analyst from Gaza, told Arab News that the Palestinian leadership and Hamas both need each other at present.
“This meeting doesn’t seem to be based on a change of attitude or thinking, he said, “but it is clearly a response to the fact that both sides are facing an existential crisis and therefore are clutching each other (for support).”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1619716/middle-east

 

https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/userimages/1347/ann_p03_29012020_ed1.pdf

Edited January 29, 2020 by Butifldrm

[Butifldrm]

Trump plan calls for Palestinian state with capital in eastern Jerusalem

President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he announced his peace plan in the White House. (AP)

Short Url

https://arab.news/p5j62

Updated 33 sec ago

RAY HANANIA

DAOUD KUTTAB

NAJIA HOUSSARI

January 28, 202019:45

 

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled a long-awaited Middle East peace plan that broadly favored Israel, as expected, but also defied expectations by offering the Palestinian people a path to statehood.

Trump proposed a Palestinian state double the size of the existing Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its capital and a US Embassy there; high-speed rail links between Palestinian areas and a tunnel linking the West Bank and Gaza; a four-year ban on Israeli settlement building on land earmarked for a Palestinian state; $50 billion in economic aid; and continued oversight by Jordan of Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

However, major Israeli settlements would remain, puncturing large parts of Palestine, Israel would take control of the whole Jordan Valley, and the refugee issue must be “settled outside Israel.”

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Read the full report here: Middle East peace plan

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Trump unveiled his plan at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before an audience comprising mostly supporters of Israel but also including ambassadors from the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.

OPINION

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

Palestinians will lose out by rejecting peace talks

READ ARTICLE

He admitted the plan was good for Israel, but said it also had to benefit the Palestinians “otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”

“I am saddened by the fate of the Palestinian people. They deserve a far better life,” he said.

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Spotlight: Trump’s Middle East plan forges unexpected unity in Palestinian ranks

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Trump said his plan would end “Palestinian dependency on charity and foreign aid. We will help the Palestinians to thrive on their own. The Palestinians will be able to seize the future … We are asking them to meet the challenges of peaceful coexistence.”

Trump said Palestinians must adopt basic laws enshrining human rights, end corruption and disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

He said Israel would work closely with Jordan to preserve the status quo of Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Trump said he had written to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “explaining the territory allocated for his new state.”

“It will become a wonderful Palestinian state,” he said. “President Abbas, I want you to know, if you chose the path to peace, America will be there … every step of the way. We will be there to help.”

However, Abbas immediately rejected the plan on Tuesday night. Visibly angry on Palestinian TV, he said: “No, a thousand times no.”

That the plan was based on a unified Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel is “enough for us to reject it,” he said.

Husam Zumlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Arab News: “There are 13 million Palestinians in Palestine and the world, and the very fact that the American administration couldn’t find a single Palestinian to appear in that White House room says volumes about the one sidedness of the deal.”

In Lebanon, the Fatah movement called for a “day of rage” to resist the deal.

*Daoud Kuttab reported from Amman and Najia Houssari from Beirut

 

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1619441/middle-east

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Palestinian leader roundly rejects Trump peace plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech following the announcement by the US President Donald Trump of the Mideast peace plan. (Reuters)

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RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said “a thousand no's” Tuesday to the Mideast peace plan announced by President Donald Trump, which strongly favors Israel.
“After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century," Abbas said at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered.
He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem.
“We will not kneel and we will not surrender,” Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through “peaceful, popular means.”
The plan would create a Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank, but would allow Israel to annex nearly all of its settlements in the occupied territory. The plan would allow the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of east Jerusalem but would leave most of the city under Israeli control.
The Islamic militant group ruling Gaza rejected the "conspiracies" announced by the U.S. and Israel and said "all options are open" in responding to the Trump administration's plan.
“We are certain that our Palestinian people will not let these conspiracies pass. So, all options are open. The (Israeli) occupation and the U.S. administration will bear the responsibility for what they did," senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said as he participated in one of several protests that broke out across the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Protesters burned tires and pictures of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Abbas held an emergency meeting with other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to discuss a unified response to the plan. Abbas had rejected the deal before it was announced saying the U.S. was hopelessly biased toward Israel.
Jordan meanwhile warned against any Israeli "annexation of Palestinian lands" and reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, which would include all the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned of “the dangerous consequences of unilateral Israeli measures, such as annexation of Palestinian lands.”
Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have made peace with Israel.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1619516/middle-east

[Markinsa]

**** Topic Exceeding Readable Content  -  Please Start New Topic ****

 

On 7/24/2019 at 8:42 AM, Adam Montana said:

One more thought before I wrap this up - a lot of our news threads here have exceeded thousands of posts. Those threads will be locked (mods, please help me out here) in an effort to bring the most current news to the attention of those of us interested in reading. If you see a locked thread in the news sections, this does not mean we don't want to continue the conversation! It just means it's time to start a new thread on the topic.