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Another Perspective
A Construction Moratorium — If They Talk
Something for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to consider.
On Sunday, January 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to have continuous one-on-one talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the “core” issues, including the status of Jerusalem and final borders, until they are all resolved.
You may recall that the two parties met in September for three weeks but the talks ended when Mr. Netanyahu refused to extend the 10-month moratorium on construction in the West Bank because he could not do so without the support of his Cabinet. If he had extended the moratorium, his government would have collapsed and the talks would have ended anyway.
For three weeks in November and December, the Obama Administration failed to cajole Mr. Netanyahu, particularly his Cabinet, to recommence the construction moratorium for a 90-day period with offers that included fighter jets. In Mr. Netanyahu’s announcement yesterday, he did not offer to meet Mr. Abbas’ insistence that Israel recommence the moratorium, but stated his belief that the parties would know very quickly if they could reach final agreement on the “core” issues.
Let me suggest the following. Israel should recommence the moratorium, thereby meeting Mr. Abbas’ condition for commencing talks. As he did in September, Mr. Abbas would insist that the moratorium be maintained as a condition for continuing talks. Here is the new tack by Israel: Israel should declare that it will maintain the moratorium only for as long as talks continue. The Palestinians see the moratorium as a condition for talking, while the Israelis must insist that the talking is a condition for the moratorium. If the talks stop, the moratorium ceases.
Obviously, the talks may be suspended while the parties confer internally, or externally with other countries. And the talks may need to be suspended for reasons of illness, death in the family, political crises, natural disasters, etc. To accommodate this need, I would propose that either side could suspend the face-to-face talks for up to 30 days. Mr. Abbas’ failure to appear by the 30th day would end the talks and end the construction moratorium.
To continue the moratorium, Israel would not insist on the subjective criterion that the talks “show progress.” Meeting face-to-face would be sufficient and objective. Sure, Mr. Abbas (or Mr. Netanyahu) could game this situation by meeting face-to-face but not making progress and not reaching agreement. The burden of continuing the moratorium, however, would be on Mr. Abbas. He would have to show up at least once every 30 days.
Mr. Thunder was a member of a small team that successfully negotiated the 1987 amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 between the United States and Canada.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (33) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 1.4.11 @ 7:01AM
In other words, the Israelies must give in to the Palestinian demands, in the full knowledge that not a single thing will be accomplished by their doing so, and indeed, that they will soon enough be hit by more rocket attacks and suicide bombers -- but THAT will not be grounds to suspend the *talks* of course.
The Palestinians must be required to do something besides *talk* or pretend to talk,and there must be no excuse whatsoever for discontinuing the *talks* for more than two days running, save an open attack by one of the parties on the other, which should end the talks instanter. As long as the side that started the attack is shooting, absolutely no outside party should be permitted to demand that the party that was attacked should stand down and not fight back.
Until one side or the other learns that it is not the slightest bit of use to attack the other, the whole pretense at *talks* is useless. Could we save a whole lot of useless blabber by simply standing back and letting the parties slug it out?
Bigmo| 1.4.11 @ 7:35AM
There would not be a moratarium. The gameplan is foR Israel to keep building and change the demographics on the ground. Mahmoud Abbas was supposed to give some cover for Israel while it keeps building on whats remaining of Palestine.
But Abbas either didn't get it oRmaybe is just pretending to walk away. He is an Israeli agent I think. But maybe I am wrong. The US and Israel seem to think they need the appearance of peace talks to give Israel cover.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 5:43PM
This is pure garbage. We are talking about building in existing settlements, not new ones. Abbas waited until the very end of the moratorium to start talking.
It is Abbas how is "creating facts on the ground", by building all over the place.
What's remaining? The settlements are on such a small portion of the area, and we offered them part fo our own country instead.
I'm sorry, I don't know where you get this from , but all of your facts are wrong.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.4.11 @ 8:18AM
Winston Churchill said: "jaw jaw jaw is better than war war war".
Someone here go look up the remainder of that quote. heh.
Steve in Pittsburgh| 1.5.11 @ 3:11AM
To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.
- Winston Churchill
jgo| 1.4.11 @ 9:39AM
Let me get this straight. Israel is supposed to stop construction in their capital city? to placate a bunch of unrepentant terrorists and subversives whose stated goal remains to eliminate Israel? Fuggedaboudit!
Jack in the Midwest| 1.4.11 @ 9:56AM
There will never be peace in the Middle East until Israel evacuates the whole West Bank and East Jerusalem. All the land stolen since 1967 should be returned to it's rightful owners the Palistinians. It would be nice if the Israeli's gave their own Arab minority full civil and religious rignts as well. This constant push to segregation and discrimination by the Jewish majority will never fly, with the rest of the world. It is time to take the King of Saudi Arabia's peace proposal as a starting point and have real negotiations.
Ed in North Texas| 1.4.11 @ 10:08AM
There will never be peace in the Middle East until Israel no longer exists, at least as a Jewish nation. Israel as an majority Islamic nation would be acceptable, as long as the status of the Jews is the same as it is in other Islamic countries.
That is the reality of the Middle East, and the entire Arab world. You know that (or should recognize the reality), and anyone with half a brain knows it. Mahmoud Armageddonwhackjob, President of Iran, is popular among the people of the Arab world (even though he isn't an Arab) because of his stand on Israel and the Jews.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 5:47PM
Thank you for the sentiment, but you are wrong. They will rape the women, torture the men, and kill everyone - the Jews, the Druze, likely the Christians and maybe a lot of the Moslems. We would be LUCKY to be dhimmi. Lo0k at what happened in '47.
Speaking of the Jews in the Moslem world, after beign there THREE THOUSAND years, there are now ZERO Jews in Yemen. That is "the status of the Jews in Islam today".
mzk1`| 1.4.11 @ 6:10PM
Bythe way, your being from North Texas reminds me of soemthing.
Can you imagine what would happen if someone asked Texas to give up the Alamo?
P.S. Again, thank you for your sentiments. It's hard to fight the blinders of the MSM.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.4.11 @ 10:52AM
Jack,
I am very sorry. We simply do not have the tools here to fix stupid, and brother you are stupid.
KyMouse| 1.4.11 @ 4:12PM
Jack, when Israel was attacked from the area that is called the West Bank today (biblical Judea and Samaria), Israel defended itself and seized those areas. Such a response is the right of the nation that has been attacked. Israel also was attacked by enemy forces in the Golan Heights, and has made sure ever since that its people below those mountains will not be used for target practice anymore.
Anyone who doesn't like living in Israel is free to leave it.
RCV| 1.4.11 @ 4:48PM
It would be nice if any other state in the Middle East gave its religious minorities even half the civil and religious rights everyone has in Israel. The King of Saudi Arabia could do that with a pen. Then Christians would be as free to worship in public there as Moslems are in Israel.
The land you call "stolen" was annexed by Jordan after it attacked the new state of Israel. Jordan at the time declared that IT was Arab Palestine (which it was creadted to be) and that there was no need for a spearate Palestinian state. Israel's retention of the territory following its later war with Jordan was hardly aggression. In retrospect, of course, it would have been wiser for Israel to return the West Bank to Jordan (without Jerusalem, which it will never and should never give up), because the Jordanians have shown that they know how to deal with the PLO and other terrorist groups.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 5:59PM
Let me tell you (again) about a gentleman I know. He lives in a northern set of neighborhoods in Jerusalem called Ramot; it straddles the old border. I do not think he would call himself a Zionist.
His friend and neighbor is an Arab, who moved there after Jordan stole East Jerusalem in 1948. He has his family compound right next to this huge neighborhood of apartemnt hourses (every apt. privately owned). Note that Israel let him stay.
So I ask again - who is the settler?
RCV| 1.4.11 @ 7:39PM
Israel would be very foolish to even consider ceding any part of Jerusalem. As to your question, many of the Arabs presently living in Israel & the Territories came there from surrounding Arab countries, and were attracted by the enterprise and employment opportunities generated by the new Jewish settlements. Those opportunities are sadly lacking in most of the surrounding Arab countries. Israel has always treated the Palestinian Arabs in its territory far better than they were ever treated in Jordan, Lebanon or any of the surrounding Arab nations, where they were herded into camps in which they still live today.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 6:17PM
I'm sorry for arguing with you; I re-read your piece and I realized something this ridiculous MUST have been intended as comedy. You has me there until you brought in Said Arabia.
Saudi Arabia - the most religiously repressive regime in the world! All Jews thrown out, Christianity illegal, Islam of such a nature as to make Iran look like Sweden! Not to mention one of the last true MONARCHIES in the world for heaven's sake! This is FUNNY! you should have your own show.
P.S. In Israel, there is official govenment discrimination IN FAVOR of Arabs. Yes, we have a quota! This in spite of polls showing that they are verring towards being a fifth column. Oh, and every religion is legally entitled to its own Sabbath and its own holidays. Any other country have that?
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 6:19PM
Sorry, just to clarify - I was talking about a quota for government jobs.
KyMouse| 1.4.11 @ 4:16PM
Jack, I'll add that a couple of years ago, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government found that 77 percent of Israeli Arabs would rather live in Israel than anywhere else in the world.
PattyMor| 1.4.11 @ 4:43PM
When the other side wants you dead or pushed into the sea, just what is there to talk about? To keep doing the same thing over and over, is insanity.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 5:50PM
This is why Abbas and Hamas are the sanest people in the world. The more they say NO, the more we (Israel AND the U.S.) give them. Why would Abbas even WANT an agreement? He has his country, no elections, and a convenient "enemy".
q-dof | 1.4.11 @ 5:28PM
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mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 5:53PM
What people are missing here is the human cost. People put all of their money into an apartment (we have no apartment houses in this country to speak of; an apartment is often a person's nest egg), and then they can't build. What happens to their life savings?
The opposition to the freeze is about things like this, not nationalism.
Who Knows?| 1.4.11 @ 6:02PM
Did you get to see the new rising star, just elected to the house, the patriot West?
He was on C-SPAN wowing a Jewish audience.
When he retold the story of that crazed Muslim killing the Dutchman, van Gogh, he nailed the "talk, talk" fools.
Remember---van Gogh, as he was being stabbed to death, asked the guy if they couldn't just TALK ABOUT IT.
America has too many TALKERS, known as lawyers!
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 6:05PM
You want an agreement? Easy. Have Obama INSIST Israel build - not the houses we talk about today, but NEW settlements.
Abbas will be at the table tomorrow.
Of course, an agreement you will have. Peace is another story. But who cares about the future? Ask Chiang Kai-Chek what American pressure can do for your country. And the 70 million dead Chinese.
I nominate the Nobel Peace Prize committee for the Nobel Peace Prize. Giving Obama his prize pre-emtively was genius. I gives us here in Israel more of a chance of survival.
mzk1| 1.4.11 @ 6:22PM
BTW, does the moratorium include Abbas as well?
And he left out the fact that the agreement fell apart when we asked Obama to put it in writing. Maybe he has problems with written agreements unless they are passed without being read first?
Jack in the Midwest| 1.4.11 @ 10:51PM
My comment above is just a comment on International law. The Israeli's have no right to the West Bank or East Jerusalem. They also have no right to treat Gaza as a concentration camp. The Holyland belongs to all mankind not just a few million members of seveal squabbling sects. We need peace. A walled, armed Ghetto surrounded by deserved enemies, is this what 3000 years of Jewish history means? It is time to come out of the cold and live in peace in the neighborhood that you chose to live in.
RCV| 1.5.11 @ 1:13AM
It is only since Israel took control of the Old City in 1967 that people of all faiths have had the right to worship in what is a Holy Place for people of the three Abrahamic faiths. When Jordan controlled East Jerusalem, Jews were barred from the Western Wall. Synagogues in the old Jewish quarter were desecrated. The first thing General Dyan did after capturing the Temple Mount was to return control of the Islamic holy places on it to the Waqf. We do need peace, but that will only come when the Arabs who surround Israel give up their dreams of driving Jews from the land.
Bigmo| 1.6.11 @ 1:14AM
Obama once again will isolate the US. Since nobody will accept the continuation of settlements. But of course the US will. Which means more attacks may come against America.
Ron Paul was right. Ron Paul for President.
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