Israel 'ignored' road map

[Violet_Crumble]

By Ed O'Loughlin
Jerusalem
November 14, 2003


A leaked Israeli Government memo admits Israel failed to honour key obligations under the stalled "road map" for peace.

The document emerged amid signs of a faint thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

The memo - leaked to Reuters as Palestinian legislators were endorsing a new prime minister and a fresh push for peace - says that instead of honouring its commitment to evacuate new Jewish settlements in West Bank, Israel had "sought in every way to whitewash their existence and build more".

Details of the memo leaked to Reuters by government sources concluded that Israel lacked international credibility because of its failure to follow the road map or come up with its own creative ideas to end the conflict.

"We promised the United States that we would dismantle the outposts and have not done so. That is our Achilles heel," the memo said.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/13/1068674313260.html

[Darranar]

1. As if this needed confirmation.

[La_Serpiente]

2. Where is

Gimel??? RuB???

[edzontar]

6. Of for that matter....

Don, ForestsBeat and Muddle---not to mention our old pal Herschel (he of the smelling Arabs theory).

It is quiet on the knee-jerk defenders of Sharon front today.

[bluesoul]

8. Actually

Forrests is no longer with us..(tombstoned)

[tinnypriv]

9. No longer with us in that name, I believe

;-)

[edzontar]

10. Really!!!! Do we know why?

Herschel is gone too--his profile is erased--it says by him.

I think Herschell deserved to be dumped as a racist..

But though I did not "like" Forests's posts, or his disruptor mass-posting methods, I don't quite get what might have brought him down...is it appropriate to discuss this here?

[Classical_Liberal]

11. No it isn't appropriate to disguss it here

according the rules, I didn't make. You should edit this post. It will get deleted, and if you get too many deletes you might get sacked. Even when you post stuff that is quite plain to see you can get a post deleted here. Post this stuff in private messages.

[bluesoul]

12. Disabled profile

doesn't mean anything necessarily Edzontar, anyone can turn his own profile off ;-)

[edzontar]

13. OK all-thanks for the info....

The posts survived the day, so I guess all is well....I just donated, so I don't want to get tombstoned QUITE yet.

[tinnypriv]

3. Worse: the US has known this all along

That is what prompted Mofaz to draw up a list of 20 "outposts" (not settlements) for evacuation.

Clear implication is that the United States is only worried about the public image of the Roadmap and not the actual implementation of it. No surprise, considering they've put it into a "Deep Freeze".

The real problem is keeping it that way in reality while not acknowledging it as such in public.

[Classical_Liberal]

4. kick

I am passing this to my press contacts.

[tinnypriv]

5. Pass this on as well :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=17644

I'd be bad manners to blame Israel for ignoring the Roadmap when they've had the signal for a while that they can do whatever the hell they like. :shrug:

[The Magistrate]

7. Thank You, Ma'am

It is good to have the admission down on paper out in the open.

[Violet_Crumble]

14. Was this reported in the US?

I know sometimes our mainstream media reports things that don't see the light of day in the US...

Violet...

[bemildred]

16. I have not seen it yet, but it's early, it may show up.

Or not.

[tinnypriv]

18. Was on the MSNBC website

Other than that, I didn't see anything.

[Darranar]

17. I haven't seen it...

but then again, I rarely read the mainstream news in its paper form or watch it in its TV form.

[Gimel]

15. What the memo says

Later in the article posted :

Reuters said the memorandum had been prepared for Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, although a spokesman for Mr Shalom denied knowledge of it. Reuters said another senior government source acknowledged the memo's existence but denied it showed Israel had acted in bad faith.

Israel also accuses the Palestinian Authority of reneging on its road map obligation to move against militant groups responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel and armed resistance in the occupied territories.

The exitence and wording of the memo doesn't indicate bad faith or intention to act in bad faith. It is only an observation such that anyone might make when striving to accomplish a goal.

[Violet_Crumble]

19. I think you mean: 'what the article said'...

What the article said isn't being disputed, which is: "We promised the United States that we would dismantle the outposts and have not done so. That is our Achilles heel," and 'Israel had "sought in every way to whitewash their existence and build more".'

Anyone who reads the article would be aware that while a spokesman for Shalom claims to have no knowledge of the memo, another senior official made the rather weak claim that Israel wasn't acting in bad faith in reneging on its roadmap obligations....

How can this be explained as anything but bad faith?

"News of the memo's existence follows recent Israeli Government decisions to build hundreds of homes in existing settlements and extend recognition and support to several new "outpost" settlements previously scheduled for demolition under the road map."

and

"Human rights groups say despite the Government's commitment to dismantle dozens of new outpost settlements, only one inhabited outpost had been removed and this was soon replaced by another nearby."

And of course that wall being built in Palestinian territory isn't in the spirit of the road-map or a two-state solution...

When something is done in good faith, even if attempts aren't successful, at least they've tried to the utmost of their ability. The Israeli government certainly didn't do this at all, which is why it's so hypocritical of it and its supporters to turn around and accuse the Palestinians of acting in bad faith when they flatly deny they've acted in good faith themselves...

Violet...

[Gimel]

20. Sorry, not what I meant at all

Your interpretation is not mine.

[Violet_Crumble]

21. Then feel free to explain...

I posted everything in the memo that was reported. What you were talking about wasn't in the memo, but was what an Israeli official said about the memo...

Violet...