Franse minister BuZa Kouchner vraagt zich af of Israeli's nog vrede willen

 

Als Frankrijk de relaties met Israel wil verbeteren:

 

believing Paris would never be a credible partner in Middle East peace talks if it was seen as biased in favour of the Arab world.

 

...dan moet Sarkozy eens een hartig woordje met Kouchner gaan spreken. Hij had natuurlijk zijn twijfel kunnen uiten over de vredeswil aan beide kanten, want de Palestijnse vredesbeweging is ook niet echt om naar huis te schrijven.

 

Blijkbaar wordt van Israel verwacht dat het zich actief blijft inzetten voor vrede, zowel op straat als op diplomatiek en politiek niveau, terwijl de Palestijnen niks hoeven te doen. Een evenwichtige houding houdt in dat je naar beide partijen kritisch bent en eisen stelt, dus de eis voor een bevriezing van de nederzettingenbouw gaat gepaard met de eis aan de Palestijnen de opruiing in de media en de verering van 'martelaren' (plegers van aanslagen) te stoppen, Joodse nationale rechten in het land en in Jeruzalem te erkennen of het recht op terugkeer op te geven. Het is duidelijk dat er van een dergelijke benadering van Frankrijk geen sprake is.

 

RP

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Last update - 16:06 10/11/2009
French FM: It seems Israel no longer wants peace
By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1127198.html

 

 

France fears that Israel no longer desires a Middle East peace deal, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Tuesday, adding that Paris remained deeply opposed to settlement building in the West Bank.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held unusually low-profile talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday and is due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday.

 

Speaking on France Inter radio, Kouchner made clear he was not expecting any swift break through in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
 
"What really hurts me, and this shocks us, is that before there used to be a great peace movement in Israel. There was a left that made itself heard and a real desire for peace," Kouchner said.

 

"It seems to me, and I hope that I am completely wrong, that this desire has completely vanished, as though people no longer believe in it," he added.

 

When Sarkozy took office in 2007 he worked hard to improve sometimes frosty French relations with Israel, believing Paris would never be a credible partner in Middle East peace talks if it was seen as biased in favour of the Arab world.

 

However, relations with the Netanyahu government have not been easy and France has been especially vocal in demanding that Israel halt Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

 

Obama recently eased U.S. pressure on Israel over the settlements, calling for restraint in construction where he had earlier pushed for a freeze. But Kouchner signalled no such softening of French opposition.

 

"There is a real difference of opinion on this [between Sarkozy and Netanyahu]," he added.

 

Underlining their sometimes problematic ties, Kouchner belatedly cancelled a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories last month. No official reason was given, but one French diplomat said Israel was making access to Gaza difficult.

 

Kouchner confirmed on Tuesday that he would now visit the region "in the coming days" and said he would use the trip to try to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to run for re-election in a ballot slated for January.

 

Abbas announced last week he would not seek a new mandate. France fears the younger generation of Palestinian politicians will be less committed to seeking a peace accord.

 

"We must revisit this with Mahmoud Abbas," Kouchner said.

 

Two days after Netanyahu's visit, Syrian President Bashar Assad will also be in Paris for talks with Sarkozy.

 

French officials have said the two meetings are not linked, seeking to kill off any speculation that France might try to act as middleman between the two nations.