Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has discussed with the Palestinians transferring to them 98.1 percent of the West Bank, according to a Jerusalem Post story out just a few days ago. The report on the ongoing negotiations was broadcast in advance of a planned meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the news item and said only that many such media reports had been published in the last months regarding the talks.
Earlier in the day, during what could be his last cabinet meeting before he becomes the head of a transitional government, Olmert addressed Israel’s relationship to the West Bank when he spoke of a voluntary evacuation bill to help relocate settlers living east of the security barrier. “The vision of a greater Israel no longer exists. Those who speak of it are delusional,” the prime minister said. No vote was taken on the measure.
According to reports, Olmert is considering concessions far beyond land east of the barrier and could transfer 98.1% of the West Bank to the PA. That is significantly more than the 94% to 96% that had been discussed in previous negotiations. The report states that Abbas has asked that Israel cede the Jerusalem area settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim and Givat Ze’ev, but is willing to negotiate the status of the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo and French Hill, which are over the Green Line.
In the past the Palestinians have demanded that Israel fully withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, including from eastern Jerusalem. Israel has insisted it plans to keep the larger settlements blocs including Ma’aleh Adumim and Givat Ze’ev as well as the Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.
The future of Jerusalem was being negotiated between Olmert and Abbas, and not by the team led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Olmert has also agreed that 5,000 Palestinian refugees would return to Israel – a thousand refugees every year for five years, according to the report. This is the Right of Return issue that has undergirded many a peace negotiations in years past that Israel seems to be caving in as well.
Abbas allegedly rejected the proposal and was demanding the return of many more refugees. According to the report, the Palestinians were also interested in access not only to the Dead Sea but also to the Kinneret, as they claimed they deserved some rights over the water flowing into the lake because the Jordan River runs through Palestinian territory. Also Sunday, Olmert met with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a former Middle East envoy for the European Union. The two men spoke of the two-state solution and Olmert’s voluntary evacuation plan.
Both Abbas in an interview with Haaretz over the weekend, and Vice Premier Haim Ramon in briefing reporters on Sunday, expressed skepticism as to the success of the negotiations. Ramon said he was not optimistic that a final-status agreement would be reached, “not at the end of this year and not at the end of next year.” But what was clear, he said, was that in the future, “settlements east of the barrier won’t be under Israeli sovereignty.”
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned that the Palestinians would view the measure as a unilateral step. She added that Israel should not take steps to determine a border while it was in the midst of negotiating one with the Palestinians. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said that such a law would embolden the Palestinians to increase their demands. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said the proposal would be impossible to implement. More to the point, it would make any future evacuations harder to carry out because the net effect of the bill would be to replace less ideological settlers with more determined ones.
In Samaria, where a new citizens’ protest movement has already started, its leader, former Samaria Regional Council head Benny Katzover, said they were collecting signatures of residents who had pledged not to leave. The regional council had received many calls from people who wanted to move there to protest against the Ramon bill, he said.
Speaking in defense of the voluntary evacuation bill at the cabinet meeting, Olmert said that for the 40 years since it acquired the West Bank during the Six Day War, Israel had been making excuses as to why it could not do anything. This, he said, did not help Israel. It was important Israel showed it had taken initiative in the peace process. “We have to advance the voluntary evacuation compensation bill and to bring it to the cabinet [for a vote],” the prime minister said. Olmert said he had not always supported territorial concessions and that he had initially felt that then-prime minister Ehud Barak had offered the Palestinians too much at Camp David in 2000.
“I thought that the land between the Jordan River and the sea was ours,” he said. In the end, he said he came to the conclusion that we had to reach an agreement with the Palestinians if we did not want to see Israel become a binational state. There was no time to waste, Olmert said. adding: “We can argue about every small detail and find that when we are ready for an agreement there is no partner and no international support.” In the not too distant future, there would come a day when “we will want those same solutions that we are rejecting today,” he said. Israel had to reach a final peace agreement with the Palestinians and the Syrians. If this happened, then relations with other Arab nations would follow suit, he said.
Olmert’s thinking is both dangerous for Israel and the world itself. Nothing Israel offers the Arab World during this process will be enough. Behind all this “good will” Olhmert is offering however is the strong arm of the United States and the Bush Administration. Condi Rice has been in Jerusalem for weeks now orchestrating the division of Jerusalem and pressuring Israel to give and cave into the demands Olmert basically stated in his accessment this past week.
America has experienced two devastating hurricanes the last two weeks that have cost our nation billions of dollars in damage; our financial markets have went into a trillion dollar freefall the last few days as three of our nation’s largest banking and mortgage institutions have went under as well as one of the nation’s largest insurance agencies. And that may just be the beginning. Let the politicans posture themselves as America’s “saviour” from this mess but friend let me assure you there is not going to be a “saviour” who can save us from the debacle this nation is going to face if we keep pressuring Israel to divide Jerusalem! The only hope for America is Jesus Christ and a Holy Ghost revival that must begin soon or this wonderful nation is going to face destruction.
I don’t say these things with glee or happiness but a heavy heart.
On a related yet different issue, we’re in the middle of the Islamic celebration of Ramadan, which will continue for 30 days until Tuesday, the 30th of September.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. The Month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Quran “was sent down from heaven, a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of Salvation” It is duriig this month that Muslims fast. It is called the Fast of Ramadan and lasts the entire month. Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation.
During the Fast of Ramadan strict restraints are placed on the daily lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours. Smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during fasting. At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar. In the evening following the iftar it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends. The fast is resumed the next morning.
According to the Muslim Koran, the good that is acquired through the fast can be destroyed by five things –
- the telling of a lie
- slander
- denouncing someone behind his back
- a false oath
- greed or covetousness
These are considered offensive at all times, but are most offensive during the Fast of Ramadan. President Bush is the first American President to bring the celebration of Ramadan to a level of having the White House honor it. It just adds fuel to an already burning fire over our nation right now that is not bringing good tidings peace on earth and good will to all men.
Keep your eyes on America’s markets the next few days into the coming weeks; while you’re watching America’s financial frefall, keep your eyes on Jerusalem and the processes that are taking place over God’s Holy City as we write this. We need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We need to pray for the peace and prosperity of our nation and God’s blessings to return.
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