DECEMBER 2003

Arbel: There is sufficient evidence to indict PM

By Baruch Kra, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Acting Attorney General Edna Arbel believes there's enough hard evidence to charge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with receiving bribes from businessman David Appel, who was also a Likud back-room wheeler dealer. The final decision will be made when all the relevant material is completed, including another interrogation of the prime minister.

Further inquiry is needed because of new material the police and prosecution have in the case, which involves help for Sharon's election campaigns and payments to Sharon, through his son Gilad, for various services Sharon allegedly provided for Appel.

At one point when Appel was seeking Sharon's help to resolve government obstacles to a business deal, Appel told Sharon his son Gilad would "make a lot of money."

Police Criminal Investigations Department commander Moshe Mizrahi also believes the evidence against the prime minister is very strong, and tends to agree with Arbel. The police hope to interrogate Sharon within days.

Sharon on Wednesday in a meeting with Russian-language newspaper editors said he had no intention to resign, Israel Radio reported.

Arbel believes work on the case can be completed in a matter of weeks, but in any case the next attorney general, probably Menachem Mazuz, the current deputy, will make the final decision.

The indictment prosecutors Rahel Shiber and Ella Rubinek filed in Tel Aviv District Court Wednesday is 33 pages long, including 7 pages listing 209 witnesses. Gilad Sharon is listed as witness 207.

The indictment explicitly names the prime minister and his deputy Ehud Olmert as people Appel bribed. By specifically referring to Appel's promise of paying lots of money to Gilad Sharon, ostensibly for his role in the so-called Greek island business deal, it contradicts Sharon's public declarations that he knew nothing of any Greek island deal.

The indictment says Appel paid $700,000 out of $3 million promised to the Sycamore Ranch estate owned by the Sharons and managed by Gilad. It says Appel knew Gilad had neither the qualifications nor the experience for the job he gave him. The money kept flowing to Gilad Sharon long after it became evident Appel would not be building any island project.

Greece's Archaeology Law rendered such a venture impossible, as did the presence of church property on the small Aegean island southeast of Athens where Appel wanted to put a gambling resort.

The charge sheet says there were three parallel tracks to the Appel-Sharon relationship - the period when Sharon was running for the Likud leadership in 1999; the Greek island affair, when Sharon used his influence to help Appel reach key Greek government officials whom he hoped would get him approval for his grandiose island gambling resort; and the Sharon family's involvement in various real estate interests of Appel in the Lod area, where he sought a change in zoning laws that would transform millions of dollars of farmland he had bought into hundreds of millions of dollars worth of residential and commercial property.

The charge sheet specifies that Appel threatened the former ILA (Israel Lands Adminnistration) director general, Avi Drexler, that he would use his influence with Gilad Sharon to get Drexler fired for blocking the zoning changes. Indeed, Drexler was eventually forced out of the ILA.

On Appel's relationship with Sharon, the indictment also touches on Appel's relationship with Jerusalem mayor Olmert. At the same time as Appel was promising Sharon logistical help and people for his Likud leadership battle, he was making similar promises to Olmert, Sharon's rival in the race.

In both cases, the charge sheet says, he was doing so because he needed them to host important delegations of Greek politicians in Israel. It says Sharon and Gilad attended a banquet organized by Olmert's office for the mayor of Athens.

Sharon's office at the foreign ministry was also instrumental in organizing an official visit by the deputy foreign minister of Greece at the time, to whom Appel wanted to pitch his presentation on the resort.

Among other things, the indictment says, Appel promised an Olmert campaign activist he would pay - "but not loudly" - for a Likud voter registration campaign for Olmert and the Olmert camp. The activist told Appel it would cost him between NIS 45,000 and 50,000.

Sharon May Face Indictment in Bribe Case

By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer

TEL AVIV, Israel - An Israeli court charged a real-estate developer Wednesday with paying more than a half-million dollars in bribes to Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) — a case that could force the prime minister to step aside.

AP Photo AFP Slideshow: Mideast Conflict

Wednesday December 31, 2003

Main Headline

Military police arrest soldier who shot Briton in Rafah

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

Military police this week arrested and questioned the Israel Defense Forces soldier suspected of shooting British civilian Tom Hurndall in Rafah last April.

Hurndall suffered severe brain damage as a result of the shooting and lies in a vegetative state in England. His family has begun proceedings allowing him to eventually be disconnected from respiratory and other life-support systems.

Hurndall, 22, a student from Manchester and a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was wounded by IDF gunfire directed at Palestinians in the Yabne neighborhood of the Rafah refugee camp an April 11, 2003. Other ISM activists on the scene at the time of the incident charged that IDF snipers starting shooting at Palestinians - including children - in the street without any provocation.

In England, Hurndall's mother welcomed the arrest and said it must be made clear to Israeli soldiers that they were answerable for their actions and could not shoot with impunity.

The soldier suspected of shooting Hurndall, whose remand the Southern Command military tribunal extended Wednesday by seven days, initially claimed that he returned fire after an armed Palestinian shot at him. He later "admitted to firing in proximity to an unarmed civilian as a deterrent," said a release from the army.

The IDF has updated the British Embassy in Israel on developments in the case.

Hurndall's mother Jocelyn welcomed the arrest but said she was still dubious about the outcome of the military inquiry. "I remain skeptical... but I'm hopeful," she told Sky news. "I think this is the first positive step.

"We wish the rules of engagement in Israel to be looked at extremely seriously," she said. "We wish every Israeli soldier to get the message very clearly that they cannot shoot with impunity, that they are answerable for their actions."

The IDF has previously agreed only to carry out an internal investigation with the soldier's unit, the Bedouin patrol battalion.

The Hurndalls said they had received the findings of the unit inquiry but that the findings presented by Israeli military authorities until now indicated a childish and unsubstantial investigation.

The investigation into the circumstances of the incident commenced six months after the shooting, on the directive of Judge Advocate General head Major General Menachem Finkelstein.

Prominent Rabbi Says Apartheid Wall 'is killing people'

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - A prominent Jewish rabbi living in a West Bank settlement has castigated the construction of the apartheid wall in the West Bank, saying it contravened the teachings of the Torah and "is killing people."

Speaking during an interview with the Israeli-state run radio "cal Yisrael" Wednesday, Rabbi Menahem Froeman, of the settlement of Tekou, south of Bethlehem, suggested that the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon was deceiving the public by claiming that the wall would save lives.

"The opposite is true," said the 60-year-old rabbi, adding that the truth of the matter is that this wall "is killing people, not saving lives."

Froeman, who had held several meetings with Muslim religious officials and scholars, argued that the building of the apartheid wall showed "lack of love" to "the Land of Israel." "This wall is making this land look ugly," said the rabbi.

Froman, however, is considered a lone voice among the mostly hard-line Jewish settlers who advocate the expulsion, even the extermination of the Palestinians from Palestine.

Source: IRNA News Agency

Tuesday December 30, 2003

Main Headline

Settler Numbers Up 16%

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The population of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories has grown by 16% since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to power in March 2001.

The overall number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip now stands at 236,000, Israel's interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The numbers living in several isolated settlements has grown much more rapidly including at the controversial Netzarim settlement in southern Gaza that is now home to about 65 families and guarded by several hundred troops, after growing by 24% since Sharon's election.

Under the terms of the US-backed road map peace plan, Israel is obliged to freeze settlement activity, but the Israeli government has continued to issue tenders for the building of more apartments in the West Bank and Gaza.

Quit notices

Meanwhile, on Tuesday Israeli defense ministry officials began posting notices to quit on the doors of homes in Ginot Aryeh West Bank settlers' outpost, after orders for its dismantling were issued.

"The evacuation orders have been posted on the door of the houses in Ginot Aryeh," a spokeswoman for the settlers, Rachel Avital, told reporters.

"This neighborhood is just 300 meters from the last houses in Ofra and 25 people live here," she added. Ginot Aryeh, which houses a handful of families from the nearby settlement of Ofra in the central West Bank, is one of four outposts due to be dismantled in the coming days, after orders were signed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.

Emotional confrontation

A senior Israeli officer for the West Bank admitted on Tuesday the army could expect an emotional confrontation with the settlers over the dismantling orders, but said that they would be carried out.

Avital said the settlers would vehemently oppose any evacuation, but would not resort to violence.

"We will do everything we can to oppose the dismantlement but we will not lift a hand against the forces of order," she said.

Source: AFP

Sunday December 21, 2003

Main Headline

13 Sayeret Matkal reservists join refusal to serve in territories

By Amos Harel and Mazel Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents

Thirteen reservist soldiers and officers in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit of the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday evening signed a letter declaring their refusal to serve in the territories.

The letter - signed by soldiers and officers - was delivered to the Prime Minister's Office, which refused to comment on the content of the letter.

Among the 13 signatories are nine who still do reserve service in Sayeret Matkal, while the most senior is an officer with the rank of major.

"We say to you today, we will no longer give our hands to the oppressive reign in the territories and the denial of human rights to millions of Palestinians," reads the letter addressed to the prime minister, " and we will no longer serve as a defensive shield for the settlement enterprise."

Although Sayeret Matkal - the IDF General Staff's elite special-operations force - is rarely involved in operations in the territories, the announcement carries weight because of the group's standing in Israeli society.

In response, the IDF Spokesman said, "It is grave when reservists use their military records and the name of their unit for the purpose of expressing their political ideas."

Political figures who served in the elite army unit sharply criticized the announcement. Barak, who served as commander of Sayeret Matkal, called on signers of the letter to "immediately" retract their decision. According to Barak, it was a grave mistake, but "it's not too late correct it, and it's important to do so."

"In a democracy there's no place for refusal because it is the elected government that issues the orders to the army. As much as we are divided over the hesitant and confused policy of Sharon's government which is endangering Israel, it is essential that this battle be waged in the public sphere, and for the army to defend all of us. Every soldier has the right and the obligation to refuse an blatantly illegal order, but I am convinced that the IDF, under Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon, would never lend a hand to the giving of blatantly illegal orders to soldiers, including those in Sayeret Matkal."

MK Matan Vilnai (Labor), a major general in the reserves who served as deputy commander of Sayeret Matkal, also criticized the letter. "Refusal is a phenomenon that must cannot be accepted in any manner. It cannot be denied that we are not speaking of a few isolated instances, but rather a phenomenon that stems from the feeling of lack of purpose in government policy."

"Refusal harms society's strength," said MK Dan Yatom (Labor), a major general in the reserves who served in Sayeret Matkal. "I condemn any form of refusal. No person or group has the right to determine which missions are to be carried out." According to Yatom, "The government of Israel must be attentive to the distress expressed by such quality groups as the pilots and Sayeret Matkal, and to respond appropriately."

Deputy Defense Minister MK Ze'ev Boim (Likud) said the reservists were exploiting their military uniform for political purposes, and were unworthy of wearing it, Channel Two TV reported. Meretz MK Yossi Sarid said that while he opposes refusal to serve in the territories, this latest letter was another example of the failure of the occupation.

MK Ophir Pines (Labor) said that in light of the letter, a serious discussion should be held on the issue.

Minister Effi Eitam, Chairman of the National Religious Party, said that he sees the letter as a break in Israeli society and that he expected the wave of refusal to grow.

Meretz MK Roman Bronfman called the letter a brave step intended to save Israel from the occupation, while MK Shaul Yahalom (NRP) said that jail was the proper place for the signatories.

The Sayeret letter is the third such public declaration of reservists refusing to serve in the territories since the outset of the current intifada. In early 2002, the "Courage to Refuse" movement released a letter signed by reservist soldiers and officers refusing to serve in the territories, which to date has over 570 signatories. In September of this year, a group of Israel Air Force pilots announced their refusal to carry out air strikes in the territories.

Saturday December 20, 2003

Main Headline

World court hearings on W. Bank fence to begin in February

By The Associated Press

THE HAGUE - The International Court of Justice, asked to give its opinion on the legality of an Israeli-built security barrier in Palestinian territories, set a deadline of next month for submitting arguments and said it would begin hearings on February 23.

The court announced the timetable with unusual speed, 11 days after the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the UN's highest judicial authority to render an urgent opinion on the issue.

The court, also known as the world court, said the United Nations or any of its member states may submit written arguments by January 30. Countries wishing to present oral arguments must inform the court by February 13, and hearings would begin 10 days later.

Although the Palestinian Authority is not a member, it would be permitted to state its case by virtue of its status as a UN observer and co-sponsor of the resolution requesting the court's intervention, the court said.

The court gave no estimate of how long the proceedings might last or when it might render its opinion. In the past, the 15 judges have taken months, and sometimes years, to publish their findings, although the court said it was taking "all necessary steps to accelerate the procedure."

The opinion will be non-binding. Israel has said it would cooperate with the court, but has not said whether it would abide by any opinion it hands down.

Israel has begun constructing the barrier stretching more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from north to south to block would-be suicide bombers from reaching civilian targets inside Israel.

A UN study of the fence's proposed route said part of it would lie within the West Bank, trapping 274,000 Palestinians in tiny enclaves and blocking 400,000 others from their fields, jobs, schools and hospitals, according to a recent UN report. Israel ignored a resolution last October by the General Assembly calling for a halt in the construction.

It will be the highest profile case deliberated by the world court since it was asked to rule on the legality of nuclear weapons in 1996.

The International Court of Justice, established in 1946 to resolve disputes between states, has issued 22 advisory opinions, most in the 1950s and 1960s. The General Assembly first sought its advice in 1947 when it asked about the admission of new members to the United Nations.

Netanyahu’s 'Racist' Remarks Under Fire

GAZA CITY - Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the Israeli Arab population posed a demographic threat to the country came under fire from lawmakers, Israeli Arab leaders and Israeli civil rights groups.

Knesset member Azmi Bishara (National Democratic Alliance) branded as "racist" describing the original residents of the land as a demographic problem.

"No people in the world like to hear that their actual existence causes a demographic problem," he told IslamOnline.net yesterday, Thursday, December 18.

Addressing a conference on security issues held in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, Netanyahu Wednesday, December 17, blamed Israeli Arabs of disturbing Israel's demographic balance.

"If there is a demographic problem, and there is, it is with the Israeli Arabs who will remain Israeli citizens," he said.

Netanyahu claimed if the percentage of Arab citizens rises above its current level of about 20 percent "than the Jewish state will be annulled."

"We reject this racism and regard it as part of the colonial mentality characterizing officials in this country," Bishara said.

"Netanyahu wants to treat Israeli Arabs like Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by counting and besieging them," he charged.

Agreeing, KM Ahmed Tibi lashed out at hawkish Netanyahu branding his remarks as "a stink bomb and racism."

"The day is not far when Netanyahu and his flock will set up roadblocks at the entrance to Arab villages in order to tie Arab women's tubes and spray them with spermicide," he was quoted by Haaretz as saying.

For his part, Abdel-Malek Dahamsha, a third Israeli Arab lawmaker, warned that Netanyahu was "playing with fire."

"We are neither a commodity nor a problem. We have a right and we are the original owners of the land. We live in our country and are ready to shoulder our duties as citizens."

He told IOL that Netanyahu’s remarks "reflect the weakness of the Zionist ideology and an outdated ideological perception."

Netanyahu's remarks also came under fire from Israeli opposition figures and a civil rights group.

"Small Bigots"

Yossi Sarid, of the Meretz movement, accused Netanyahu of setting in motion an irrevocable deterioration of relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, said Haaretz.

He said it was amazing to see how "great leaders are exposed as small bigots. The Palestinian problem in the territories has not yet been solved, and already some insist on creating a new problem with Israeli Arabs."

Sarid asserted that "Netanyahu at Herzliya poured a fuel tanker on the bonfire of relations between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel, and a thousand firemen won't be able to put out a fire that one light-hearted man ignited."

Haaretz further said that the Association for Civil Rights in Israel sent a letter of complaint to Netanyahu about the remarks.

"Comments like these fan the flames of hatred, racism and discrimination that are the daily reality of Israeli Arab citizens and undermine the basic trust that underpins a democratic society," the organization said.

Arab Israelis complain authorities discriminate against them in the distribution of state funds, particularly in local communities and education.

Unemployment and poverty figures are higher in the community than among Jewish Israelis.

According to Haaretz of Israel's 6.6 million citizens, about 1.3 million are Arabs.

Friday December 19, 2003

Main Headline

World Court Hearings on Building of Wall in Palestinian Territory Set for February

UNITED NATIONS - The principle judicial body of the United Nations today decided to open hearings next February on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a separation barrier in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Issuing an order in response to a request from the General Assembly for an advisory opinion on the matter, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) also ruled that written statements should be submitted by 30 January 2004. In addition to UN Member States, Palestine was invited to provide documents to the Court.

Oral statements will begin on 23 February. Palestine, which has special observer status in the General Assembly, will be allowed to participate in that exercise as well.

Earlier this month, the Assembly, meeting in a resumption of its tenth emergency session on Palestine, adopted a resolution asking the ICJ to urgently render an opinion on "the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem."

The Court was also asked to consider the rules and principles of international law, including the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention as well as relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

Source: United Nations News Center

Israel Destroys 4000 Palestinian Houses in Three Years

GAZA STRIP (Xinhua) --The number of Palestinian houses that were destroyed by the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza during the past three years has reached 4,000, a high-ranking Palestinian official said on Thursday.

Deifallah El-Akhras, director general of the Housing Ministry said that the financial losses out of the 4,000 completely destroying houses had exceeded 115 million US dollars over the past three years.

He told reporters that the houses that were partially damaged during tanks and aircraft shillings as well as opening fire had reached 50,000 Palestinian houses, with losses of 40 million dollars.

Roads and highways were also destroyed by the Israeli army tanks and bulldozers in addition to streets infrastructure with a cost of 102 million dollars, he said, adding that the total financial losses of the Israeli destruction had reached to 330 million dollars.

He warned over what he called "the continuation of this Israeli policy that is threatening human beings as well as all the Palestinian infrastructure."

"Israel has put a programmed plan to undermine the Palestinian infrastructure, he added.

He said that the Palestinian needs "are much more than the estimated sums of money and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has urged for help of the donor countries to pay what the Palestinian need to reconstruct what had been destroyed by Israel.

Thursday December 18, 2003

Main Headline

Palestinian PM: Sharon, in speech, 'threatening' Palestinians

U.S. warns against unilateral steps

By Haaretz Service and agencies

A White House spokesman reacted on Thursday to a speech given by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a security conference in Herzliya, in which Sharon said Israel would take unilateral steps if Palestinians did not make moves toward peace, and said that the United States satisfied was opposed to any Israeli unilateral step which may block the path to negotiations based on the road map for Middle East peace.

"The U.S. believes that a settlement must be negotiated and we would
oppose any effort any Israeli effort to impose a settlement," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. He called on the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to meet "very soon and without any preconditions."

However, the spokesman said that the U.S. was satisfied at Sharon's expressed commitment to the "road map" plan for Middle East peace.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia reacted to the speech at a press conference in his Abu Dis home near Jerusalem, and said he was "disappointed" that Sharon's speech included "threats" to the Palestinians, in the form of unilateral steps.

Sharon said that Israel would unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians, redeploying Israel Defense Forces troops and relocating some settlements.

Qureia said that if Sharon would negotiate with the Palestinians, peace could come "sooner than expected."

Housing and Construction Minister Effi Eitam (NRP) said his party could not sit in a government that uprooted Jewish settlements.

The head of the West Bank Binyamin regional municipality Pinhas Wallerstein, a veteran leader of Israeli settlers, complained about the possible moving of settlements and warned that disengagement would create the "imposition of a siege on the Jewish settlements" inside the barrier. Wallerstein added that Sharon's plan was in essence a decision on the transfer of Jews.

MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) reacted on Thursday to Sharon's speech, and said the Prime Minister talks about the seriousness of the Palestinians as though he himself is serious and making progress.

MK Shimon Peres said that he was very disappointed with Sharon's speech. According to Peres, "Instead of a decision, we were handed another delay, and a delay that is not necessarily in our favor... Sharon is turning Israel into a hostage to Palestinian demography. If we continue to follow this policy, our situation will get increasingly worse."

The architects of the Geneva Accord termed the address "one small step for Sharon, and one giant step toward Geneva," but Yossi Beilin warned the Labor Party not to be drawn into the prime minister's trap. "In Sharon's Herzliya speech, the mountain didn't even give rise to a
molehill," he said.

Labor MK Yuli Tamir said `we waited in anticipation for Sharon`s speech, but we are disappointed and frustrated.`

The Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sharon's proposal on Thursday for unilateral steps to separate from Palestinians was no formula for peace.

Asked by CNN what he would do if Israel started unilateral moves, Erekat said: "With this unilateral approach, they may make peace with Israelis and Israelis; they'll not make peace with Palestinians".

Erekat urged the Israeli prime minister to stick to the "road map" for peace, a blueprint backed by a Quartet that includes the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

"We invite Mr. Sharon to come immediately with no conditions to the negotiating table on the basis of the road map and let the Americans, Europeans, Russians and the UN - the Quartet members - to be the judges of both of us", he said.

Lapid lambastes `barbaric' settlers

By Haaretz Staff

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid yesterday launched a verbal assault on Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, describing their behavior as "barbaric," and accusing them of having "de facto" control in Israel.

Monday December 8, 2003

Main Headline

UN General Assembly Votes to Ask International Court of Justice for Opinion on Israel's Separation Wall

NEW YORK - The United Nations General Assembly, at the resumption of its long-running tenth emergency special session, adopted a resolution today asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of a separation barrier between itself and the West Bank.

The recorded vote in the 191-member Assembly was 90 in favor, 8 against (Australia, Ethiopia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States), with 74 abstentions. Nineteen delegations were absent.

Among those abstaining were two members of the "Quartet" advocating a Roadmap to Peace in the Middle East: the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The other two members of the Quartet are the United States and the United Nations.

The Assembly also expressed grave concern about the start and ongoing construction of the barrier in and around East Jerusalem -- a departure from the 1940s Armistice "Green Line" -- disrupting the lives of thousands of civilians and leading to the de facto annexation of large areas of territory.

The tenth emergency session on illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory dates back to 1997, when Israel began construction of a new settlement south of East Jerusalem.

The ICJ, based in The Hague, the Netherlands, and established in 1946, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It has the dual role of settling legal disputes between member states and issuing advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by international organs and agencies.

Arab delegations had called for the vote following the release of a report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which said that Israel was not in compliance with the General Assembly's past demand that it halt construction of the barrier and remove it.

After the vote, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said more than half the Assembly had not voted for the present "biased resolution," rejecting it in one way or another. Among those voting for and against the measure, a clear distinction existed between tyrannical dictatorships and corrupt regimes on one side and those with enlightened regimes on the other, he said.

Israel regarded the vote as a moral victory for the enlightened, civilized world over the dark forces of tyranny and corruption, he said.

The Observer for Palestine, Nasser al-Kidwa, described the barrier as a 21st century "wall of shame," which was built on a foundation of killings and human rights violations and which must be removed immediately.

Continued construction of the wall meant the end of the two-state solution to the conflict, as well as the Quartet-backed peace plan, he said. The entire world stood against the building of the "expansionist wall" and countries had been subjected to "immense pressures" not to vote for the resolution, he added.

Source: United Nations News Service

UN votes 90-8 to ask Hague court for opinion on fence

By Shlomo Shamir and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

NEW YORK - The United Nations General Assembly approved Monday a Palestinian-initiated resolution asking the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's construction of the separation fence. Ninety nations voted in favor of the draft, eight opposed and 74 countries abstained.

Israel condemned the resolution. Ra'anan Gissin, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesperson, said, "This is an attempt... to delegitimize the right of the Jewish people to have a Jewish state that they can defend."

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, called the vote "a moral victory," saying "most of the world's enlightened democracies" were among the large number of countries that didn't support the resolution while those who voted in favor were "mostly tyrannical dictatorships, corrupt and human rights-defying regimes."

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement describing the resolution as "a victory for
justice and international law... It is a message from the international community to Israel to stop its aggression and to stop building the wall."

Palestinian UN observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the 90 votes in favor came "in spite of the immense pressures, and even threats... to which member states were subjected" not to support the resolution.

Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom decided prior to the vote that Israel would
cooperate with the international court in the Hague should the resolution pass and that
Israel would argue that the decision to build the barrier was based on self-defense.

Sharon and Shalom decided to wait for the outcome of the vote before taking any action,
but agreed that Israel would present its position that the barrier is legal and stands up to all standards of judicial scrutiny.

The United States and Israel strongly opposed the resolution, arguing that it would "politicize" the court and undermine efforts to reach a Middle East peace settlement.

Other countries voting against the fence were Micronesia, Australia, Ethiopia, the Pacific
islands of Nauru, Marshall Islands and Palau.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer told Israel Radio on Monday: "The closer [the fence] is to the Green Line, the less you'll hear [about it] from Washington."

Almost all delegations opposed the fence, which juts into the West Bank. But the European Union joined the unusually high number of abstentions, believing that seeking an opinion
from the court was legally questionable and would work against a political dialogue.

Meanwhile, Shinui ministers decided Monday to demand at the next cabinet meeting that the
government alter the route of the fence, changing it from a "political" fence to a "security" fence, Israel Radio reported. Gissin said Shinui would be permitted to ask the cabinet to re-examine the fence's path.

Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, who heads Shinui, said his plan would leave a greater number of settlements outside the fence than the present route does, Israel Radio reported. "The route that was approved is too long, too expensive, not acceptable to the United States and puts the whole world against us," he said.

Israel insists the fence, which it began building last year, is needed to prevent suicide attacks and says its construction is purely for security.

Arab nations argued that going to the court was the only action available to try to stop construction of the barrier which the Palestinians call a land grab by Israel ahead of possible talks about the borders of a Palestinian state.

Saturday December 6, 2003

Main Headline

UN expected to approve Hague court opinion on fence

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies

The United Nations is likely to approve by a large majority a Palestinian draft resolution asking the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legality of the West Bank separation fence currently under construction by Israel.

Monday's vote will follow recent unsuccessful efforts made by EU countries to convince
Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Kidwa to refrain from requesting the involvement of the Hague court. The Palestinians last month waived discussing the issue, yet nevertheless decided last week to advance the proposal following a report published recently by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which criticized the West Bank barrier.

The current Palestinian draft resolution includes a special clause stating that "the UN
assembly decides to request that the International Court of Justice issue an advisory opinion on the legal ramifications arising from the construction of the separation fence by Israel, the occupying force in the occupied Palestinian territories." The resolution also refers to construction of the fence being carried out in East Jerusalem.

Deputy UN Ambassador Aryeh Mekel said Israel would continue its efforts to convince friendly nations to vote against the proposal. Israel rejects the idea of adding the Hague court to the Mideast equation, which would hamper the efforts to achieve peace, he said.

If the proposal is approved, it would mark the first time the UN requests an advisory opinion
from the Hague court on a politically affiliated issue - a move that several UN members fear would end up weakening the organization's influence.

Friday December 5, 2003

Main Headline

Geneva Accord Authors Take Campaign to US

By Peter Heinlein

UNITED NATIONS (VOA) - The authors of the latest unofficial Middle East peace plan - the so-called Geneva Accord - have taken their campaign for acceptance to the United States. They will meet Friday with senior policymakers, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. On the way to the nation's capital, the plan's chief sponsors stopped in New York to brief an influential foreign policy group.

They are being treated like traitors in many quarters back home. But the architects of the Geneva Accord say the overall reaction to their peace proposal has been far beyond their expectations.

On the eve of their meetings with senior Bush administration officials, former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yassir Abed Rabbo were hosted Thursday, by New York's privately funded Council on Foreign Relations.

The audience was largely supportive, but skeptical that any unofficial plan - especially one denounced by Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian terror groups - has any chance of success.

But Rabbo said grassroots support among usually cynical Israelis and Palestinians has been encouraging.

"We think that the understanding of the people is much better than we expected," he said. "All polls among Palestinian people had shown [that] not less than 40 percent of Palestinians support this document."

Questioners in the audience noted that there are many seemingly intractable obstacles to peace in the Middle East. Moderator James Hoge, editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, pointed to Israel's security barrier that juts deep into Palestinian territory, and the settlements on that territory, as being among the biggest irritants.

But Yossi Beilin said his plan envisions an easing of Israeli security fears that will make the barrier - and the settlements - unnecessary.

"We decided settlements would not determine the future border and we are drawing a border according to our mutual needs, not according to the 140 settlements," said Beilin. "If this is not preventing us from determining a border, a wall which is being built in the beginning of the 21st century would be the last thing to prevent us from drawing our future border."

Hogue: What do you expect, that the wall will be torn down if?

Beilin: "Exactly. We have some precedents. The wall is the result of the Israeli genuine fear of terrorism, of mothers and fathers who see the situation and are afraid to send their kids to school or to the theater of whatever."

Beilin says Prime Minister Sharon ordered the barrier built in response to public pressure, and would welcome the chance to tear it down.

"So many Israelis, more than 70 percent of the Israelis, wanted the wall," he said. "It is more than natural. Because they understand there is no other solution, there is no peace around the corner, they don't trust the other side. They know the government is not negotiating at all, so they wanted the wall, so Sharon decided to build the wall, and now we are accused of building this wall, but I can assure you that, behind closed doors, this was the last thing on his mind. He didn't want a wall."

Another thorny issue facing any peace initiative is the status of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israel and the United States want him excluded. Beilin says Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush must realize that their efforts to isolate Arafat are counter-productive.

"The Oslo process brought Arafat into the picture because we understood that he is the real leader of the Palestinians whether we like it or not, and most of us did not like it," continued Beilin. "As a result of the last three years in which he made big mistakes, big mistakes. But it didn't make him a non-leader of the Palestinians, and boycotting him and putting pressures on those who meet with them is, I think, the wrong way to deal with the issue, because it strengthens him."

Beilin says the difference between the plan he and Rabbo propose and the officially sponsored road map to peace is that the Geneva Accord spells out an end game. It even addresses the sensitive issue of the status of Jerusalem.

Secretary of State Powell, while expressing faith in the road map as the best formula for peace, has expressed interest in the Geneva Accord. While traveling in Africa this week, he said "it seems to me that the more people who talk about the prospect for peace, the better off we are."

Source: VOA News

'No Chance of Peace with Palestinians' says Israel's Deputy PM

By Sonja Pace in Jerusalem

Israel's deputy prime minister says there is no chance of peace with the Palestinians and Israel needs to take unilateral steps to draw its own borders. The comments come as the Israeli and Palestinian architects of an unofficial peace initiative meet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington.

In comments published in the Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronot, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he sees no chance of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

He also said that Jews risk being outnumbered by Arabs in areas under Israeli control in the near future, and must take steps to avoid becoming a minority.

Olmert said Israel should draw its own borders. While he did not specify what those borders should look like, he did say Israel should ensure it has a population that is at least 80 percent Jewish. That leaves open the possibility of a wider withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip than Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been willing to consider.

Sharon has also suggested that if peace talks with the Palestinians fail, he is considering unilateral steps. But, he has also warned the Palestinians that they will not get greater concessions from Israel in the future.

Another Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv, reported Friday that Sharon's public approval rating has dropped to a new low. The newspaper published a poll, which showed that only 33 percent of those asked approve of Sharon's performance, while 59 percent said they were not satisfied. This is the lowest approval rating for the prime minister since he began his second term in office 10 months ago.

The news comes as an unofficial peace plan, which Sharon opposes, gets a boost from Washington. The co-authors of what is called the Geneva Accord - Israeli Yossi Beilin and Palestinian Yasser Abed Rabbo - are in Washington to meet with Secretary of State Powell to discuss their plan.

Sharon's government has spoken out against the meeting, saying the only peace plan on the table is the internationally backed road map.

Unlike the road map, the Geneva Accord spells out compromises both sides must make, in order to reach a final peace agreement. Supporters of the Geneva plan say is not meant to replace the road map toward peace, but rather to complement it.

Source: VOA News

Thursday December 4, 2003

Main Headline

Israel’s F-16 and Black Hawk Refuseniks: 'We’re Air Force Pilots, Not Mafia'

By Chris McGreal

TEL AVIV - For two months, a rebel group of Israeli Black Hawk helicopter and F-16 fighter pilots has been denounced as traitors for saying they will no longer bomb Palestinian cities.

Until now they have maintained a resolute silence on their motives, preferring to limit their criticism of Ariel Sharon's war to a letter signed by 27 reserve and active duty pilots refusing to carry out what they described as illegal orders, and denouncing the occupation as eating at the moral fabric of Israel.

Now, having been thrown out of the air force, they are talking publicly about what brought members of the most revered branch of the Israeli military to make an unprecedented challenge to the handling of the conflict with the Palestinians.

"I served more than seven years as a pilot," said Captain Alon R, who, like all the younger pilots, hopes to return to combat flying and so declines to use his full name in order to retain his security clearance. "In the beginning, we were pilots who believed our country would do all it could to achieve peace. We believed in the purity of our arms and that we did all we could to prevent unnecessary loss of life.

"Somewhere in the last few years it became harder and harder to believe that is the case."
The line was crossed for most of the pilots with the dropping of the one-ton bomb last year on the home of a Hamas military leader, Salah Shehade, killing him and 14 of his family, mostly children.

One captain described the bombing as deliberate killing, murder even. Another called it state terrorism, though some colleagues swiftly stomped on that interpretation. But they all agreed that the attack sowed the doubts that resulted a year later in the letter that sent shockwaves through the Israeli military.

"The Shehade incident was a red light for us, a final warning," said Capt Alon R. "With Shehade I began to re-evaluate my beliefs. We killed 14 innocent people, nine of them children. After my commander gave an interview in which he said he sleeps well at night and his men can do the same. Well, I can't. We refused to see it as an innocent mistake."

Capt Assaf L, who served as a pilot for 15 years until sacked for signing the letter, had similar doubts.

"You don't have to be a genius to know that the destruction from a one-ton bomb is massive, so someone up there made a decision to drop it knowing it would destroy buildings," he said. "Someone took the decision to kill innocent people. This is us being terrorists. This is vengeance."

Lieutenant-Colonel Avner Raanan is among the most respected pilots to have signed the letter. He served for 27 years and was awarded one of Israel's highest military decorations in 1994. "If you look at the past three years, you see that, if we had a suicide bombing, the Israeli air force made a big operation in which civilians were killed, and that looks to innocent eyes like revenge," he said.

"You hear it in the streets of Israel; people want revenge. But we should not behave like that. We are not a mafia."

More than 30 pilots have now endorsed the letter refusing to fly bombing raids on Palestinian cities, although four retracted, one an El Al pilot threatened with dismissal, and another a reserve pilot who lost his civilian job.

At its core, the letter questions the legality of the "targeted assassinations" that have claimed the lives of more civilian bystanders than their Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade targets. In October, 14 civilians were killed when the air force fired missiles at a car in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp.

"Is it legitimate to take F-15's and helicopters designed to destroy enemy tanks, and use them against cars and houses in one of the most heavily populated places in the world?" Capt Alon R asked.

"Because of the terrorism, we have become blinded by the blood on our own faces. We cannot see that on the other side, beside the terrorists, is a whole nation of innocent people. It's important that we recognize that, and that, as military people, we say that."

The pilots' stand shook Israeli society. There is no shortage of critics of the prime minister's militarist tactics but those of the peace camp are widely viewed as pacifists and marginal. Doubts raised by the army chief of staff, Moshe Ya'alon, and four former heads of the Shin Bet intelligence service alarmed many Israelis, but the criticisms were focused solely on whether Mr. Sharon's tactics were fuelling terrorism.

The pilots straddle both issues, raising moral and legal questions on the conduct of the war and challenging the government's claim its strategy is about defending Israel.

"Our government's policy is to maintain fear in the public," Capt Assaf L said. "We're not weak. It's not 1967 or 1973, with the Syrian army on the border waiting to attack us. This is maintaining a war to maintain the occupation.

"We've the strongest nation in the Middle East. The terrorists are bastards, but we must fight to not become terrorists ourselves."

Many who poured scorn on the pilots accused them of wading into politics for going beyond questions about the legality of their orders and challenging the occupation. "We cannot separate the two," Capt Jonathon S said. "We are not pacifists. We don't think we should sit back and let suicide bombers attack us. But all this is a direct result of our being in the [occupied] territories.

"Our fight to keep the settlements and suppress the Palestinian people is killing us. It is killing our right to live safely in the country of Israel. A very small group of radical Israelis is leading the sane majority to catastrophe."

Col Raanan scoffs at the accusation that the pilots have denigrated their uniforms by wading into political issues.

"The air force commander spoke in favor of the [Jewish] settlements while sitting in uniform next to Sharon at a Likud party convention," he said. "That is political. This country has a defense minister who, as army chief of staff, was the most political ever. It is hypocritical to say lower ranking officers cannot express an opinion. What they mean is, we can be political so long as we agree with the government. Well that's not democracy."

The pilots say they have received more than 500 letters of support, including one from a Holocaust survivor, and numerous calls from fellow pilots. Several leftwing former cabinet ministers praised the pilots' stand, saying it proved the armed forces were moral.

Concern in the air force prompted its commander, Major-General Dan Halutz, to meet groups of pilots to tell them that "targeted assassinations" were not a war crime.

"Halutz said we were traitors," Capt Assaf L said. "In our eyes, what we did is a very Zionist act. We did it to save Israel."

Colin Powell said yesterday he had the right to talk to anyone with ideas for peace, dismissing Israeli criticism that it would be a mistake for him to meet the authors of the unofficial Geneva accord. "I am the American secretary of state. I have an obligation to listen to individuals who have interesting ideas," he said.

Although he did not say he would meet the accord's Israeli and Palestinian authors, US officials have said such a gathering could take place this week in Washington.

Source: The Guardian - Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Wednesday December 3, 2003

Main Headline

White House supports Powell-Geneva authors meeting

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

A White House spokesperson said on Wednesday that the U.S. President had no problem with Secretary of State Colin Powell's plans to meet Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, the principal architects of the Geneva Accord.

The statement came after the Israeli government expressed displeasure at early reports
that the authors of the accord would meet with Powell during a planned visit to Washington.

In a statement containing unusually strong language regarding its traditional ally Washington,
Israel on Tuesday slammed Powell for his plan to meet the two.

The authors of the peace initiative are scheduled to meet U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz in Washington on Friday, a spokesman said on Wednesday. Israel Radio
reported that Beilin, Amnon Lipkin Shahak and Nehama Ronen would participate in the meeting, after which Abed Rabbo would join them to meet with Powell.

On Tuesday in Tunis, Powell said he had a right to meet anyone with ideas on Middle East peace - despite Israeli criticism that it would be a mistake to meet the authors of the unofficial Geneva Accord.

"We are not stepping back in any way from our commitment to the road map [peace plan] and we hope that circumstances and conditions will permit the resumption of progress on the road map in the near future," Powell told reporters at a news conference in Tunis.

"I do not know why I or anyone else in the U.S. government should deny ourselves the
opportunity to hear from others who are committed to peace and who have ideas," he
said.

"I am the American secretary of state. I have an obligation ... to listen to individuals who
have interesting ideas. [This] in no way undercuts our strong support for the state of
Israel," Powell declared.

Sources in Washington, speaking after the accord was formally launched in gala ceremonies in Geneva on Monday, said that Powell's office was making preparations for a meeting between the three on Friday. The two are to update Powell on the details of the peace plan.

Powell "is making a mistake," said acting primeminister Ehud Olmert, who often enunciates
policy for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "I think that he is not being useful to the process."

"This is an incorrect step by a senior representative of the American administration,"
Olmert told Israel Radio. "I am certain of his friendship [toward Israel], but I would cast
doubt on his judgement in this matter."

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed road map for peace is not dead, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday.

"What we need is commitment from the Palestinian leadership to stop terrorism ... the more we talk about peace, the better," he told a news conference in Marrakech.

"The road map is not dead," he said, referring to the plan to end three years of violence
between Israelis and Palestinians.

Tuesday December 2, 2003

Main Headline

Israel slams Powell over invitation to Geneva authors

By Mazal Mualem (Geneva), Amon Regular and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents

In unusually strong language regarding its traditional ally Washington, Israel Tuesday slammed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for plans to meet Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, principal architects of the non-official Geneva Accord peace initiative.

Powell "is making a mistake," said acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, who often enunciates policy for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "I think that he is not being useful to the process."

"This is an incorrect step by a senior representative of the American administration," Olmert told Israel Radio. "I am certain of his friendship [toward Israel], but I would cast doubt on his judgment in this matter."

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Monday welcomed the Geneva Accord as one
that would advance dialogue between the two sides.

Speaking on the day that the unofficial draft peace plan was launched, Boucher stressed that it was important to remember that the issues dealt with in the proposal would ultimately be decided by the governments, and said that the U.S. remained committed to the internationally-brokered road map for Middle East peace.

"We think the road map is the way to make progress. Down the road of the road map, to abuse the metaphor, we get to the point where these big issues have to be discussed. We think it's worthwhile that people are already considering them, discussing and debating them in Israeli and Palestinian society."

In letter read at the Geneva ceremonies, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser expressed support for the Accord, calling it "a brave and courageous initiative," which he said "opens the door to peace."

But in a statement later cited by rightist Israeli critics of the proposal, Arafat also called for the implementation of United Nations resolution 194, which advocates the right of Palestinians to return to lands within Israel's borders.

On Sunday, Arafat stressed that neither he nor the PLO have officially accepted the draft peace accord. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia also declared that the Palestinian participants represent neither the PLO nor the Palestinian government.

Arafat also condemned the barrier Israel is building to separate itself from the West Bank, calling it " a racist separation fence."

Speaking at the ceremony, former United States president Jimmy Carter said that in order for peace to descend upon the Middle East, Palestinians first had to renounce violence and Israelis had to choose between peace with its neighbors and settlements.

Carter also was critical of the Bush administration, saying that while it had been supportive of Israel, it had ignored the well-being of Palestinians. He also criticized the Israeli government for allowing the number
of settlements to skyrocket.

The unofficial treaty proposes borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state close to the 1967 lines, giving the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and part of Jerusalem. It calls for the removal of most settlements and largely sidesteps the "right of return" for Palestinians. It also divides
sovereignty in Jerusalem and gives the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

Palestinians at the Geneva fete sought to blunt statements from Arafat that qualified his support for the effort. "My presence here sends a clear message from Arafat to the Israeli right that the only solution is two states for two peoples," Rajoub said. "You did not choose us and we did not choose you, but that is the reality. Since Rabin, there has not been a leader in Israel who is capable of taking brave decisions and who has respect for the Palestinian people."

The Israeli team was headed by Beilin and includes Labor MK Amram Mitzna, and ex-Labor ministers Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Yuli Tamir.

Also at the ceremony were authors David Grossman, Amos Oz, and A.B. Yehoshua, and dovish former MKs Mussi Raz, Shulamit Aloni and Yael Dayan.

Powell says he has right to meet with Geneva Accord authors

By Mazal Mualem (Geneva), Arnon Regular and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday he had a right to meet anyone with ideas on Middle East peace despite Israeli criticism it would be a mistake for him to see the authors of the non-official Geneva Accord peace initiative.

"I do not know why I or anyone else in the U.S. government should deny ourselves the opportunity to hear from others who are committed to peace and who have ideas," he
said.

"I am the American secretary of state. I have an obligation ... to listen to individuals who have interesting ideas. (This) in no way undercuts our strong support for the state of Israel," Powell declared.

Earlier Tuesday, in unusually strong language regarding its traditional ally Washington, Israel slammed Secretary of State Powell for plans to meet Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, principal architects of the Geneva Accord.

Sources in Washington, speaking after the Accord was formally launched in gala ceremonies in Geneva Monday, said that Powell's office was making preparations for a meeting between the three on Friday. The two are to update Powell on the details of the peace plan.

Powell "is making a mistake," said acting prime minister Ehud Olmert, who often enunciates
policy for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "I think that he is not being useful to the process."

"This is an incorrect step by a senior representative of the American administration," Olmert told Israel Radio. "I am certain of his friendship [toward Israel], but I would cast doubt on his judgement in this matter."

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Monday welcomed the Geneva Accord as one that would advance dialogue between the two sides.

Speaking on the day that the unofficial draft peace plan was launched, Boucher stressed that
it was important to remember that the issues dealt with in the proposal would ultimately be
decided by the governments, and said that the U.S. remained committed to the internationally-brokered road map for Middle East peace.

"We think the road map is the way to make progress. Down the road of the road map, to
abuse the metaphor, we get to the point where these big issues have to be discussed. We think it's worthwhile that people are already considering them, discussing and debating them
in Israeli and Palestinian society."

In letter read at the Geneva ceremoniwes, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser expressed
support for the Accord, calling it "a brave and courageous initiative," which he said "opens
the door to peace."

But in a statement later cited by rightist Israeli critics of the proposal, Arafat also called for the implementation of United Nations resolution 194, which advocates the right of Palestinians to return to lands within Israel's borders.

On Sunday, Arafat stressed that neither he nor the PLO have officially accepted the draft
peace accord. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia also declared that the Palestinian
participants represent neither the PLO nor the Palestinian government.

Arafat also condemned the barrier Israel is building to separate itself from the West Bank,
calling it " a racist separation fence."

Speaking at the ceremony, former United States president Jimmy Carter said that in order for peace to descend upon the Middle East, Palestinians first had to renounce violence and
Israelis had to choose between peace with its neighbors and settlements.

Carter also was critical of the Bush administration, saying that while it had been  supportive of Israel, it had ignored the well-being of Palestinians. He also criticized the Israeli government for allowing the number of settlements to skyrocket.

The unofficial treaty proposes borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state close to
the 1967 lines, giving the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and part of Jerusalem. It calls for the removal of most settlements and largely sidesteps the "right of
return" for Palestinians. It also divides sovereignty in Jerusalem and gives the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

Palestinians at the Geneva fete sought to blunt statements from Arafat that qualified his
support for the effort. "My presence here sends a clear message from Arafat to the Israeli
right that the only solution is two states for two peoples," Rajoub said. "You did not choose
us and we did not choose you, but that is the reality. Since Rabin, there has not been a
leader in Israel who is capable of taking brave decisions and who has respect for the
Palestinian people."

The Israeli team was headed by Beilin and includes Labor MK Amram Mitzna, and ex-Labor
ministers Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Yuli Tamir.

Also at the ceremony were authors David Grossman, Amos Oz, and A.B. Yehoshua, and
dovish former MKs Mussi Raz, Shulamit Aloni and Yael Dayan.

Monday December 1, 2003

Main Headline

U.S. welcomes Geneva Accord; Arafat sends letter of support

By Mazal Mualem (Geneva), Arnon Regular and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents

GENEVA - U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Monday welcomed the Geneva Accord as one that would advance dialogue between the two sides.

NEW YORK - The United Nations today observed the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with a series of resolutions and speeches calling for a peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in remarks to the General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said recent peace initiatives by Palestinian and Israeli civil society leaders show a settlement can be reached to the conflict.

Annan said the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority must act now rather than wait for the other side to the make the first move. He added that there was hope that the two Prime Ministers may meet soon and a ceasefire could be established.

"These tender shoots must be nourished. At the same time, the parties must be judged not by their stated intentions but by their actions on the ground," he said.

General Assembly President Julian Hunte of St Lucia said history showed that "problems between peoples and States could not be solved by violence and conflict," adding that a two-State solution was the only way to end the conflict.

Hunte praised the work of the Quartet, and said the rest of the international community must support their efforts.

The Security Council President for December, Ambassador Stefan Tafrov of Bulgaria, said the Council was particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories.

"Easing the restrictions that had been placed on the movement of humanitarian personnel would enable the workers to reach those in need and to improve the quality of life in the Palestinian territories," Ambassador Tafrov said.

The Chairman of the Committee on the Palestinians, Papa Louis Fall of Senegal, said the Committee - while recognizing Israel's right to security - "vigorously condemned the policy and practice of targeted assassinations."

Fall said the Committee also found it unacceptable that Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, remained confined by Israel's army to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Observer for Palestine, said in a statement on behalf of Arafat that the past year has been a difficult one for Palestine.

He said Israel's construction of a barrier and "the barbarism of the associated practices and repressive measures" of Israeli occupation had "further nurtured the seeds of malice and hatred."

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed each year on 29 November, which fell on a Saturday this year.

Source: The United Nations News Center

Israeli Soldier’s Book Stirs Controversy

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - A former Israeli soldier who served three years in the Gaza Strip has described Israeli treatment of Palestinian civilians as befitting ‘animals, criminals, and thieves’.

Staff Sergeant Liaran Ron Furer has written a book on his experience as an Israeli soldier manning roadblocks throughout the Gaza Strip.

The book, titled “Checkpoints-Twilight Zone” contains personal testimonies and often-brash accounts of the daily harassment and humiliation inflicted by young Israeli soldiers on Palestinian civilians.

Major publishers in Israel, including the famous Steimatzky bookstore chain refused to publish the book apparently because of its scathing criticism of Israeli army behavior.

"You can adopt the most hard-line political positions, but no parent would agree to his son becoming a thief, a criminal or a violent person. The boy himself doesn’t portray himself this way to his family when he returns from the territories. On the contrary, he is received as a hero, as someone who is doing the important work of being a soldier," says Furer in his book.

Furer describes several types of ‘sadistic’ behaviors by Israeli soldiers including beating Palestinians and then taking souvenir pictures with them. "I remember how we humiliated a dwarf who came to the checkpoint every day on his wagon. They forced him to have his picture taken on the horse, hit him and degraded for a good half hour."

Among the accounts narrated by Furer are stories of soldiers having souvenir pictures with Palestinians they had beaten up, soldiers urinating on the head of a Palestinian because the man had the nerve to smile at a soldier and how one soldier, nicknamed Dado, forced a Palestinian to stand on four legs and bark like a dog.

One of Furer`s most chilling confessions related to his abuse of a 16-year old mentally retarded boy.

Furer stresses that behaviors as such are by no means isolated but rampant in the Israeli army.

An Israeli army spokesperson refused to comment on the book saying “sorry, I haven’t read the book yet.”

Source: IRNA News Agency