Israël laat 300-400 Palestijnse gevangenen vrij voor Annapolis conferentie

Hoewel ik zou zeggen dat iemand die een aanslag probeert te plegen en vervolgens wordt opgepakt een gevangenisstraf verdient (en geen politieke gevangene is) laat Israël geregeld gevangenen vrij als teken van goodwill.

Zouden sommigen van hen slechts vastzitten voor een gering vergrijp, zoals het gooien van stenen - zoals sympathisanten van de Palestijnen beweren - of is Israël grootmoedig op dit punt? Palestijnen komen over het algemeen niet gematigder uit de gevangenis dan ze erin gaan; ze ontmoeten er andere Palestijnen, bestuderen Palestijnse geschriften en soms worden zelfs aanslagen voorbereid vanuit de gevangenis. Voor de Palestijnen zijn de gevangenen een belangrijke kwestie, die veel woede en frustratie oproept. Dus waarschijnlijk is de vrijlating vooral pragmatisme van Israël.

Government officials did not deny reports in recent days that Israel had surprisingly softened its stance on the core issues - particularly on borders and Jerusalem.
However, during talks in recent weeks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, the Palestinians refused to include the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in the shared declaration the teams are preparing, which will be made at Annapolis.

Waarom is het zo moeilijk te erkennen wat al 60 jaar een feit is? Eens te meer blijkt het voorstaan van een twee-statenoplossing niet te betekenen dat men ook Israël als Joodse staat erkent. Als wat erkent men Israël dan wel? Als een staat waar heel toevallig een meerderheid aan Joden woont, maar dat zal (hopelijk) spoedig verleden tijd zijn?

 

Ik weet het, ik ben wantrouwend, maar daar zie ik alle reden toe. Ik heb te vaak mensen horen zeggen dat ze voor een twee-statenoplossing zijn maar ze ook het zogenaamde recht op terugkeer van de vluchtelingen voorstaan, of tegelijkertijd menen dat Israël een racistische Apartheidsstaat is. Het is uiteraard onjuist dat Arabieren in Israël worden gediscrimineerd, maar waar het hier om gaat is het principe van Joodse zelfbeschikking. Dat weet Abbas en dat weten de Palestijnse onderhandelaars en dat weet iedereen die zich serieus met het conflict bezig houdt.

Ratna
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Israel to release up to 400 Palestinian prisoners ahead of summit
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 07:20 12/11/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/922959.html

Israel will release 300 to 400 Palestinian prisoners before the Annapolis summit later this month as a good-will gesture to the Palestinian Authority and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas.

But this number falls far short of the nearly 2,000 Abbas had requested from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The list will not include prisoners who were involved in killing Israelis, described as having "blood on their hands."

The release of the prisoners will be the only good-will gesture before Annapolis. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the security chiefs are adamant in their opposition to lifting any roadblocks or checkpoints along roadways in the West Bank, fearing that this would undermine security and make it easier for terrorists to strike.

The U.S. has made it clear to Israel that while it recognizes its security needs, if Israel cannot dismantle roadblocks and lift restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement, it must at least try to improve the way Palestinians are treated at checkpoints and shorten the waiting time.

After he was delayed at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint, the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, former PA prime minister Ahmed Qureia, canceled a meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Livni apologized for the incident and asked the IDF to investigate.

Meanwhile, Olmert held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the Annapolis summit and the negotiations toward a final-settlement agreement. Livni, Barak, the chief of staff and the heads of the intelligence services attended the meeting.

Olmert told the gathering that immediately at the start of negotiations following the summit, Israel will set a precondition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as "a Jewish state."

"I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state," Olmert said, thereby accepted the position of Livni and Barak. "This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."

Olmert said he raised the importance of this issue during his talks with European and American officials, and their response had been positive. However, during talks in recent weeks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, the Palestinians refused to include the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in the shared declaration the teams are preparing, which will be made at Annapolis.

This recognition is meant to bolster Israel's position that rejects the return of Palestinian refugees to areas inside the Green Line - the border before the 1967 Six-Day War.

Olmert's stance suggests that Israel does not intend to raise this issue as an obstacle to holding the summit, but will pursue it after the conference.

At the meeting with Olmert on Sunday, Barak said Israel must insist on a number of conditions in the negotiations toward a final settlement.

Among these are a declaration that the Israel-Palestinian conflict has come to an end; that Israel is a Jewish state; that the Palestinian state is completely disarmed; that Israel has the right to overfly Palestinian territory; that the PA is responsible for the Gaza Strip; that until there is a solution on the Gaza Strip, Israel will retain full freedom of action there; that a "safe passage" corridor between the West Bank and Gaza would go into effect only after the security situation in Gaza changes; and that Israel will promise economic assistance to projects to be created in the Palestinians Territories with the help of foreign donors.

Meanwhile, despite Palestinian claims that there is a crisis in the talks, Livni and Qureia exchanged drafts of the joint declaration that Israel and the Palestinians are to present at the Annapolis summit.

Government officials did not deny reports in recent days that Israel had surprisingly softened its stance on the core issues - particularly on borders and Jerusalem.

The prime minister was scheduled to appear before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday morning to present the principles that will guide Israel in the negotiations with the Palestinians.