U.S.: Israel to lift 50 West Bank roadblocks

[oberliner]

Israel and the Palestinians on Sunday agreed to a series of concrete steps aimed at paving the way for a final peace agreement later this year, beginning with an Israeli pledge to remove some 50 roadblocks in the West Bank, U.S. officials said.

The officials, traveling with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also said the Palestinians had agreed to step up their efforts to prevent terror in the West Bank.

The U.S. issued its statement after Rice met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

It said the two men had agreed on concrete steps to implement the road map, the U.S.-backed peace plan that envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"This is a program that will improve the daily lives of Palestinians and help make Israel secure," the statement said.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/969618.html

[bemildred]

1. So will this last much longer than Rice's visit?

My guess is some new horror will come along and this will be immediately forgotten.

[Vegasaurus]

2. A few suicide bombings perhaps?

That would most likely be a new horror.

[bemildred]

3. That's one possibility, among many.

There are parties on both sides that view any sort of compromise as a mistake, and that don't mind a bit of violence to fend it off. There is this clown for example:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h93gIPZFU6KGg64nscXPpBkj6aSQD8VLC5LG0

I expect that Ms Rice's influence will depart the region with her person.

[azurnoir]

4. Is there an actual dismantling

going on or just more smiling and nodding?

[Tom Joad]

5. Out of what, 900? And these will be roadblocks that

have already been taken down.

Very funny, oberliner.

[MaryCeleste]

6. Where do you get 900?

Its not that big an area...

[breakaleg]

7. You are right. There are somewhere near 500+. Still quite a few if you ask me.

[number6]

8. PR and window dressing

:smoke:

[Shaktimaan]

9. Yup, just like whenever Israel does anything positive

towards alleviating the impact their security measures have on average Palestinians. Or anything they do which fulfills a requirement under the road map, or Oslo or is a step towards dismantling the occupation. None of it matters, it's all just part of a propaganda campaign designed to fool us into thinking that they're actually doing these things that they are, in fact, doing.

Thank God no one expects similarly superficial efforts from the Palestinians, such as... I don't know, doing something conciliatory themselves. Anything positive or beneficial, sometime... no matter how small of a gesture, in response to Israel's own efforts.

:sarcasm:

A criticism often leveled at Israeli efforts such as forming the PA, allowing elections, evacuating from Gaza and areas in the WB, etc., is that they haven't had their intended effect of bringing peace to the region. Therefore, it is assumed, the actions themselves must be flawed in some critical way. Rarely is there as much room for criticizing the other side's lack of similar gestures.

Israel is in a classic "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. As we've seen above, criticism against them isn't necessarily linked to their actions. If they do something negative then it is easy to see why they would be condemned, like in the recent post reporting on their demolition of more homes, apparently without giving any warning. But to give similar condemnation in response to an act that's entirely positive, well, that requires imagination.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Israel hasn't done it yet...

Promises are cheap, and there's been many pledges by Israel to alleviate the conditions for Palestinians that don't come to fruition. Actions speak louder than words, and I'm not sure why yr chiding someone for not praising Israel for doing something it has yet to do...

[Shaktimaan]

11. This is easily cleared up.

Number6, was your comment meant to imply that Israel is unlikely to follow through on their promise? Or was it a criticism that removing 50 checkpoints is so unsubstantial an act that doing so amounts to nothing more than a PR campaign, good PR being the real objective as opposed to alleviating conditions for Palestinians living in the OPT?

[Violet_Crumble]

12. I'm not Number6, and you claimed incorrectly that Israel had carried out its promise already...n/t

[Shaktimaan]

16. I assume that he'll probably notice the post,

if not I'll alert him to my question. And I did not claim that Israel carried out its promise already, (we are talking about the recent 50 checkpoints removal promise, right?) I have no idea where you're getting that idea from.

[LeftishBrit]

15. So you think they shouldn't be removing these roadblocks?

[Violet_Crumble]

13. Deja vu...

'Following his promise to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last summer to reduce the number of roadblocks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed Defense Minister Ehud Barak to review the issue of mobility in the West Bank, but the revision is still underway.'

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953534.html

[LeftishBrit]

14. Good.

One piece of encouraging news!

[bemildred]

17. Israel says has removed 50 'dirt mound' roadblocks in W. Bank

Israel on Wednesday told the United States and the Palestinian Authority that it has implemented most of the "concrete steps" agreed to last week, chiefly the removal of 50 roadblocks in the West Bank and the dismantling of the Rimonim checkpoint east of Ramallah.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday agreed to a series of measures aimed at paving the way for a final peace agreement later this year, beginning with the easing of restrictions in the West Bank, namely the removal of the roadblocks.

In a statement issued earlier this week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office said Israel would scrap 50 dirt mounds which restrict Palestinian travel between major West Bank cities. But citing security concerns, Israel has balked at Palestinian demands to dismantle major checkpoints. Samir Abdallah, the Palestinian planning minister, said Israel's pledge to remove the dirt mounds did not go far enough, saying major checkpoints, choking the West Bank economy, must be taken down as well. "These are small steps," Abdallah said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the U.S. would be following up on Israel's activities in the West Bank to verify if it was implementing its promises to ease access and movement for the Palestinian population.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971176.html

[Scurrilous]

18. Erekat: Reports on removal of IDF roadblocks in West Bank a 'PR stunt'

Chief Palestinian negotiator says following Olmert-Abbas meeting that 'the situation on the ground indicates that the Israeli siege and closure continue to be hermetic.' Adds: West Bank becoming prison like Gaza

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3528812,00.html

<snip>

"Israel's recent declarations regarding the removal of IDF roadblocks throughout the West Bank in order to ease the movement of Palestinians are "nothing more than a PR stunt," Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday afternoon.

"The situation on the ground indicates that the (Israeli) siege and closure continue to be hermetic," Erekat said shortly after the Jerusalem meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during which the leaders reiterated their commitment to the Annapolis process and to reaching a historic peace agreement by the end of the year.

"There is no apparent change, and all of the Israeli reports are a publicity ploy. The West Bank is turning into one big prison, just like Gaza."

[Scurrilous]

19. UN: Israel's removal of W. Bank roadblocks fall short of promise

<snip>

"Israel has removed 44 roadblocks in the West Bank, short of the number promised to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a United Nations agency has found.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said most of the roadblocks removed were of little or no significance.

OCHA, which charts the location of roadblocks in the West Bank, conducted its own field survey of the 61 obstacles that Israel said it removed earlier this month after Rice's visit.

The agency found that 44 of the 61 obstacles had been removed, six remained and 11 could not be found, according to a preliminary report presented to Western donors."

<snip>

"Of the 44 obstacles that OCHA confirmed as having been removed, five were classified by the UN agency as "significant" for Palestinians in the area.

OCHA said nine of the 44 were of "minimal significance" to Palestinians, noting there was another roadblock nearby or that the obstacle blocked an unpopulated area used by the IDF.

OCHA said 17 of the 44 roadblocks were of "no significance", either because they obstructed a closed military zone, had already been removed, were located near a settlement or were in the middle of a field.

OCHA cited 13 "questionable circumstances". In those cases, the agency visited the sites where it received repeated reports that obstacles were added at the last minute and then removed."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974077.html

[oberliner]

20. 44 out of a promised 50 confirmed removed by the UN

Not sure what "could not be found" means. If they cannot be found, doesn't that mean they aren't there? What is the distinction?