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04/15/2006:

"Israel to sever all links with Palestinians"

ISRAEL'S acting Prime Minister has declared that the Jewish state will cut all ties with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, brand it a hostile power, and rule out negotiations with the President, Mahmoud Abbas, as long as Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

Ehud Olmert said he would ask his cabinet to approve measures recommended by his top security advisers on Sunday, capping days of escalating tensions.

European Union foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, were expected to endorse a decision to cut direct aid to the Palestinian government.

The quartet of Middle East peace brokers - the EU, the US, Russia and the United Nations - is trying to push Hamas to meet the same requirements on violence and Israel's right to exist, and to express clear support for the peace process.

On Friday the 25-member EU and the US announced a suspension of aid to the Palestinian Government.
smh.com.au

If Sharon can laugh, that's what he's doing.


Hamas: Israeli move "a declaration of war"
RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Hamas said it considered Israel's severing of contacts with the new Palestinian government "a declaration of war" and President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Jewish state of breaking international law.

In statements issued in quick succession on Monday, election rivals Hamas and Abbas denounced Israel for branding the Palestinian Authority a "hostile entity" and suspending security coordination.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement in Gaza that Israel's decision to sever contacts with the Palestinian Authority amounted to "a declaration of war and a failed attempt to cause internal divisions among Palestinians".

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said Israel's position "completely violates the agreements we have signed with them and violates international law".

"We demand from this Israeli government to stop such measures", Abbas said.

With foreign ministers from the European Union poised to endorse a freeze in direct aid to the new government, thousands of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza in protest.

In the West we 'stage demonstrations', while in Palestine people 'pour into the streets' like an insensible blob.


U.S. blocks UN draft pressing Israel to end attacks
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday blocked a U.N. Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, "was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so."

But Palestinian U.N. Observer Riyad Mansour accused Washington of "shielding and protecting Israeli activities and aggression against the Palestinian people."

"It was obvious that many of their concerns were accommodated but yet they kept coming back and coming back for additional things. It was obvious they did not want the Security Council to have a position," Mansour said.


Israel to boycott inquest into death of British peace activist shot in Gaza
Israel will boycott an inquest opening today in London which will investigate the death of a British peace activist shot dead in broad daylight by an Israeli soldier.
Tom Hurndall, 22, died after being shot in Rafah, Gaza, while trying to lead Palestinian children to safety after the soldier opened fire from a nearby observation tower in April 2003.

His mother, Jocelyn, told the Guardian she is angry Israel is not cooperating as she still has many questions about how her son came to be shot: "We are hoping the coroner will address the culture of impunity in which the soldier was functioning and the enormous lack of cooperation we have experienced from the Israelis."

Mrs Hurndall said that only when the family went to Israel and for seven weeks pressured the authorities and raised the case in the media did any sort of investigation begin.

Her solicitor, Imran Khan, said Israel's boycott of the inquest is disrespectful: "It shows their disdain for the whole process."


Omar Barghouti: A Decisive Vote for Apartheid
“Israel votes for disengagement and final borders” and “Israelis abandon the dream of Greater Israel” were the main themes in the spin that characterized mainstream, even some progressive media coverage of the Israeli parliamentary elections which took place on March 28. In reality, the election results revealed that a consensus has emerged among Israeli Jews, not only against the basic requirements of justice and genuine peace, as that was always the case, but also in support of a more aggressive form of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and cementing Zionist apartheid.

In the 2006 Knesset elections, Israelis have indeed overwhelmingly voted for “disengagement,” not from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), but only from the Palestinians -- whether in Israel, in the OPT or in exile. Palestinian lands are clearly precluded from this disengagement. An objective examination of the election results and the political platforms of the parties represented in the new Israeli parliament will show that the celebration of the “shift to peace and realism” by Western and Israeli media pundits alike is not only unwarranted but quite deceptive as well. If anything, an avid adoption of the right’s agenda has taken place.