The EU and Israel
The European Union and the Palestinian State
Ross: EU Contacts with Hamas Undercut Abbas
ICEJ
- July 5/05 - Former
US Mideast envoy Dennis Ross on Monday attacked European Union officials who
have met recently with Hamas members, supporting Israel's assertion that in
doing so the EU is undermining Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
"If you're dealing with them, I think you're undercutting the Palestinian
Authority. I wouldn't undercut the Palestinian Authority. The US administration
is not dealing with them and I wouldn't," Ross, Bill Clinton's top envoy to
the region and architect of the Oslo peace process, told The Jerusalem Post.
EU Funding Ended up in Swiss Bank Accounts
ICEJ - July 7/05 - The European Union fraud squad, Olaf, has issued a report saying that the PA sent hundreds of millions of dollars to bank accounts in Switzerland and Tunisia, MENL reports. Concluding a two-year investigation, Olaf said other donor funding was probably pocketed by PA officials. Olaf said the PA leadership transferred $238 million to Swiss bank accounts between 1997 and 2000 without informing its international donors. The EU remains among the largest net donors to the PA coffers, despite concerns that little of its money has made its way to the ordinary Palestinian people and that some may have even been diverted to terror.
Envoys gather in London to prepare for Palestinian summit
Feb 8/05 - Haaretz - LONDON - High-level diplomats gathered in London on Tuesday to prepare for an international conference next month, which aims to help the Palestinian government build democratic institutions.
Officials from the European Union, the United States, the
United Nations 
and Britain were scheduled to take part in closed-door
talks with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad.
A British official said the talks would build toward the March 1 conference,
which intends to help the Palestinians build an economic infrastructure, civic
administration and security apparatus.
Britain is seeking practical, concrete outcomes and doesn't want the meeting to
be a talking shop, the official said on customary condition of anonymity.
Tuesday's meeting allows key players to work out with the Palestinians what they
need, the official said.
Marc Otte, the [E.U.] European Union's
Mideast envoy ,
flew from Syria to attend the session, officials said and assistant [U.S]U.S.
Secretary of State William J. Burns, Washington's Mideast envoy, flew in from
Rome.
E.U.
- Solana: Palestinians have right to end occupation
12/01/2005
According to the Palestinian Authority -
Javier Solana, European Union Foreign Policy Chief
on Wednesday asserted that the European Union supports the Palestinian people's right to end the Israeli military occupation "peacefully."
Solana who is in the Middle East for five days, visited Wednesday in Gaza, and earlier toured the northern area of the Gaza Strip, mainly the town of Beit Lahya and northern Jabalia Refugee camp and looked at the severe destruction there that was caused recently by the Israeli army's ongoing incursions.
Solana had then joined a group of official Palestinian politicians, civil society and human rights leaders, chiefs of police and security and businessmen in a workshop organized by the Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations
(PCFR) in one of the hotels in Gaza City.
Solana praised what he called "the impressive Palestinian democratic experience" in reference to January 9 presidential elections held in the Palestinian territories, where Mahmoud Abbas was elected as a successor to late leader Yasser Arafat.
"What the Palestinians had done recently is impressive, and this is what I personally feel about the elections," Solana said. "What you have done has many implications and we should be aware of what you [Palestinians] did."
He said that the Palestinians have so many challenges in the coming future, but stressed that "the Palestinians must take this opportunity to work with us [Europe] and your Israeli partner."
PCFR Ziad Abu Amr classified in the workshop the Palestinian needs for he democracy building and the resumption of the peace process, adding that "the Palestinians are first in need to begin with "the steps of building confidence with Israel."
"This can be achieved by the release of prisoners, removing roadblocks and checkpoints and reaching a ceasefire agreement where a dialogue will start soon after new leader is sworn-in," said Abu
Amr.
Abu Amr also focused on the question of what would be the role of the third party in the peace process "which is the European Union," adding "We want the Europeans to play a significant role in the coming phase."
Several found the workshop as an opportunity to express to Solana what the Palestinians feel about the situation, mainly after Arafat passed away and the current stage where Palestinians practice democracy and look for improving their economy and their living conditions.
Solana focused on two major issues; first is that the Palestinian economists and businessmen in the West Bank and Gaza should cooperate "in order to create a new venue of business cooperation between Europe and the Palestinians.
He also spoke about the role of the Palestinian security in the future after the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, stressing that the Israeli unilateral plan should be as part of the world's backed roadmap plan for peace in the Middle East.
"The implementation of the withdrawal from Gaza should be coordinated with the Palestinian government led by Mahmoud Abbas to make use of this opportunity to see more withdrawals and dismantle of settlements in the future," said Solana.
The workshop ended with all participants including Solana commonly agreeing that the Palestinians did very well in practicing the democratic process and that the coming phase is so important for making peace, achieving independence and economical prosperity for the Palestinians.
"We want the world to support us and we want to make use of this window of opportunity. Abu Mazen
(Abbas) needs to be empowered and if you leaving us with the Israelis alone without your help, we would be crushed by Israel," ended Abu
Amr, where Solana vowed to help the Palestinians.
htp://www.pna.gov.ps/subject_details2.asp?DocId=1700
Disengagement Plan
Palestinian Turnout Low, Voting Extended
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Jan 9/05 - AP - Palestinians held their first presidential election in nine years Sunday, choosing a successor to longtime leader Yasser Arafat in a vote that many hoped would revitalize the Mideast peace process.
Mahmoud Abbas, the candidate of Arafat's ruling Fatah movement, was expected to win easily. But he was struggling to capture a clear mandate to push forward with his agenda of resuming peace talks with Israel and reforming the corruption-riddled Palestinian Authority.
Palestinians initially said polls were being kept open another two hours because of heavy turnout. Subsequently, however, officials said the polls were being kept open to encourage turnout, which was only about 30 percent of 1.8 million eligible voters by noon local time (5 a.m. EST).
The Central Election Commission decided to keep polls open until 2 p.m. EST. Results of two exit polls were to be announced shortly thereafter.
One election official said the panel came under heavy pressure from Fatah to keep polls open longer amid growing concerns that a low turnout could strengthen Abbas' challenger, Mustafa Barghouti, an independent.
Voting went relatively smoothly. In one incident, five gunmen burst into an election office, firing into the air and complaining that the names of their relatives had been left off registration lists. The situation was resolved peacefully.
In Jerusalem, there was some confusion over voter lists that was eventually resolved with the help of international observers, including former President Carter.
Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and both peoples claim it as their capital.
Israel said it was ready to meet with Abbas shortly after the election. Senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said Israel was prepared to release Palestinian prisoners if Abbas could halt Palestinian rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said he hoped Israel would release more Palestinian prisoners and added that the United States was ready to help the new Palestinian president with financial aid and assistance on reforming the government. He spoke of a new opportunity in an interview on ABC's "This Week" from Nairobi, Kenya.
Since Arafat's death, "I have noted with satisfaction that greater efforts to cooperate between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And I hope that greater effort will continue and grow after the election," Powell told "This Week."
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, part of a U.S.
delegation, met with candidates in the West Bank.
Jerusalem Arabs to Skip Palestinian Vote
JERUSALEM (AP) -Jan 6 & 9/05- Rabi Mimi is a strong supporter of leading Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud
Abbas. But when the polls open Sunday, Mimi won't be voting.
Mimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian truck driver, isn't alone. Many Palestinian residents of Jerusalem say they won't participate in the election, the first Palestinian presidential vote in nearly a decade,
fearing they will jeopardize their fragile status under Israeli rule.
"I can't vote. I'm afraid I'll get into trouble. I don't want to take any chances," said Mimi.
The status of east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Delicate arrangements for the voting reflect the deep sensitivities over who will rule the city.
The Palestinians hope to make the eastern section, home to the city's 220,000 Arabs, the capital of an independent state. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital. Judaism's holiest site, along with Muslim and Christian shrines, are all located in east Jerusalem - including a key site revered by all three.
Buttressing its claim to the city, Israel offered citizenship to Jerusalem's Arabs after the 1967 war. Although few Palestinians took up the
offer (???), Arab residents of east Jerusalem qualify for an array of Israeli government benefits, unlike their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza.
Mimi relies on Israel for his health care, and he receives unemployment benefits. Since his wife is from the West Bank, he needs the Interior Ministry to work out travel arrangements for her to see relatives.
With so much on the line, he said, voting just isn't worth the risk. "Everyone has to watch his own back," he said, sitting in east Jerusalem's main post office on a rainy morning.
[Note: In other words, although diplomats keep claiming that all of the Palestinians support Abbas and the continuation of Corruption, the Arabs living in Jerusalem under the Israelis Far prefer the Israeli system to the alternative proposed to live under the SHARIA law (and corruption) that Abbas and the P.A. will Impose]
EU Calls for Establishment of Independent Palestine Calls on Israel to End Aggression
16/03/2002
The European Union (EU) leaders, meeting in Barcelona to discuss a wide array of issues ranging from the European economy to the Middle East conflict and Iraq, have expressed strong support for the establishment of a viable independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In a statement released on Saturday, the EU leaders called for an "expedient application" of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1397, which calls for an end to the violence, destruction, and provocation as well as the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
The European statement also demanded that Israel "withdraw all its forces from the Palestinian controlled areas, stop the assassinations, lift the siege and blockade, as well as freeze settlement activities and respect international law". The EU leaders reaffirmed its condemnation of Israel's "excessive use of force" and expressed strong support of the Saudi peace initiative, which adopts UN resolutions 242, 338, 1397, and 194 as its basis. They also expressed strong support to the efforts being undertaken by American Envoy Anthony
Zinni, who is now in the region to try and secure a ceasefire as well as a resumption of dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships.
The EU leaders have also emphasized their strong denunciation of the travel restrictions the Israeli government has imposed on President Arafat since December of last year. Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Pique told reporters on Friday, "It is of fundamental importance that [President] Arafat be allowed to take part in the Beirut [Arab League] summit. We have to stop the absurd spiral of violence". The Saudi government is expected to present its initiative during the Summit.
Mr. Pique also reiterated the EU's strong support of "the creation of a democratic, viable and
independent Palestinian state, bringing to an end the [Israeli] occupation of territories which began in 1967".
Source:
htp://www.pna.gov.ps/subject_details2.asp?DocId=715
FREE
AUTHENTIC ARABIC
Van_Dyck
1867 New
T estament
NOW
RELEASED
PDF
Pages & Content appear exactly as they did in This Original New Testament
THERE IS NOT ONE CHRISTIAN NATION ON EARTH WHERE
MUSLIMS ARE PERSECUTED.
Yet in most nations where the majority of the population are Muslims, there is systematic government persecution of Christians.
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
--Article 18 of the Universal
Declaration of
Human
Rights--
Core Universal Rights
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
Ambassador Hume Alexander Horan
Lebanon, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary
Islamism in Lebanon: A Guide to the Groups
