August 19, 2005

THE LIBERATION OF THE GAZA STRIP; THE FOLLOWING STEP WILL BE THE FUTURE OF THE WEST BANK AND ITS RETURN TO ITS OWNERS. ABU MAZEN BRIEFS ARAB AND WESTERN LEADERS ON THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM THE GAZA STRIP. THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT: THE PALESTINIAN SLOGAN, WHICH SAYS GAZA TODAY, JERUSALEM AND THE WEST BANK TOMORROW," IS LEGITIMATE, "THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE. ERAKAT: IF ISRAEL WANTS PEACE IT MUST MAKE A CHOICE BETWEEN PEACE AND SETTLEMENTS BECAUSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMBINE BOTH. President Mahmoud Abbas briefed the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, on the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Over a phone call, the two leaders talked over the preparations of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Spokesman of Presidency, Nabil Abu Rdeina said that President Abbas made similar phone calls with the Tunisian President Zin al-Abedeen Bin Ali, King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Al Khalifa and the President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh. President Mahmoud Abbas phoned a number of Arab leaders including the Jordanian King Abdullah II, the Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The Presidency Official Spokesman said that President Abbas briefed the Arab leaders on the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from Gaza Strip (GS). He added that these calls come in the framework of the Arab leaders' continued coordination and deliberation aimed at enforcing the Palestinian-Arab common cooperation. President Mahmoud Abbas also briefed the President of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Over a phone call, the two leaders talked over the preparations of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In another phone call, President Abbas discussed with the Prince of Qatar several issues, including the Israeli withdrawal. Earlier, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, phoned President Abbas to talk over the Israeli withdrawal as well as the EU support to the PNA. President Mahmoud Abbas phoned French president Jacques Chirac. Presidency Official Spokesman, Nabil abu Rdeina, said that Abbas briefed Chirac of the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from Gaza Strip (GS). President Mahmoud Abbas received a massage from Britain Prime Minster Tony Blair. According to the message, Blair welcomed the start of Israeli disengagement from Gaza Strip (GS) and parts of the West Bank (WB), saying that this event is a historic opportunity that needs to be seized. He expressed his support to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and to James Wolfensohn, Middle East Quartet's Special Envoy, in the work he is doing. The spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency said that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made a phone call with US secretary of state Condaleezza Rice during which he briefed her on the latest developments and Palestinian preparations for the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Gaza. Nabil Abu Rudinah stressed that Abbas called on Rice to pressure Israel to get out of the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, in a manner that such a withdrawal will be looked at as a positive step "to build on, in the future." In Jordan King Abdullah II deemed the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip a positive step, pointing that it should be a starting point towards withdrawal from the West Bank. During a telephone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah stressed Jordan's full support to the Palestinian Authority to control the evacuated areas. The King also highlighted the importance of accord between the Palestinian factions to fulfill ambitions and interests of the Palestinian people, prevent any interference in the Palestinian affair and achieve the withdrawal, which is hoped to lead for further pullouts. For his part, Abbas briefed the King on procedures taken to control Gaza strip and spread security, pointing to the importance of the Jordanian and Arab support to the Palestinians. Meanwhile Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened tough action against anyone who tries to disrupt the pullout, and said he expected half of the settler families to leave by the midnight deadline for voluntary evacuation. "We will make every effort, the army and the police, in order to have law and order in this process and anyone who acts illegally will be treated according to the law," Mofaz told a news conference. Mofaz spoke ahead of a midnight deadline for settlers to leave Gaza voluntarily or face forcible removal. He said he expects the number of those leaving on their own to "stand at around 50 percent maybe more." Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz convened a meeting Wednesday night of senior members of the defense establishment to discuss the order according to which Gaza settlements are to be evacuated. The meeting coincided with the start of forced evacuations stage, as the deadline for settlers' voluntary departure passed at midnight on Tuesday. Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi, head of Shin Bet security Yuval Diskin and other members of the defense establishment were present at the meeting. Mofaz said that the forced evacuations would start at dawn, with the settlement of Neveh Dekalim, the effective capital of Gush Katif, as a major focus. Israel Radio reported that, at the meeting, the IDF notified the Palestinian Authority that the disengagement would not continue under fire. Mofaz also cautioned Palestinians Tuesday night not to "rush to celebrate" Israel's evacuation of the 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four in the northern West Bank. Mofaz said that even after the last settler has left the Strip, the IDF will remain in the territory for at least a month, and perhaps as long as six weeks. Palestinians have been making intensive preparations for celebrating the end of the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip after 38 years. In remarks broadcast on Army Radio, Mofaz said of the Palestinians: "I want to tell them not to rush to celebrate. "There will be a space of time between the stage in which the residents leave, and the stage in which the IDF leaves the Gaza Strip, in the approximate range of 4 to 6 weeks." According to Mofaz, "during that time we will not allow the Palestinians to enter into the territory. This was stated to them in all the levels of coordination." The defense minister said he sensed the Palestinians had not reconciled themselves to the fact that they would not be taking immediate control of the settlements to be evacuated. Israeli police cut through the main gate of the West Bank's largest settlement early Tuesday, seizing control of a major flashpoint with Jewish settlers who have resisted orders to leave the community under Israel's Gaza withdrawal plan. Police burst through the main gate and Neve Dekalim's other entrances, then proceeded to cut off the metal gate with an electric saw. About a dozen forces dragged the gate away and threw it in a nearby sand pile. Police officials said the operation was meant to allow people to freely exit the settlement on Tuesday, the last day for residents to leave voluntarily. Hundreds of activists, many of them youths, had blocked police from entering on Monday, and moving trucks struggled to get through the crowd. There were few protesters in Neve Dekalim, in contrast to the previous day. Police said there were no plans to confront the residents. After midnight Tuesday, settlers remaining in the Gaza Strip were forcibly removed by Israeli forces. The first day of Israel's Gaza pullout - soldiers handed out eviction notices to sobbing Jewish settlers and helped some pack, but troops also scuffled with protesters who barricaded their communities with burning tires and locked arms. The Israeli army expects that about half of the 8,000 settlers living in the Gaza Strip will obey the evacuation order and leave voluntarily before the midnight deadline on Tuesday. Army commanders took pains to avoid serious clashes and refrained from forcing their way into settlements where opposition was heavy: a display of sensitivity before unleashing the military's muscle to forcibly remove holdouts. "Your pain and your tears are an inseparable part of this country's history," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told settlers during a nationally televised address in which he called the pullout a painful but essential step for Israel's future. He said previously it had become too hard to defend the Gaza settlements in an overcrowded area of 1.3 million Palestinians, and the presence of so many Arabs under Israeli control was threatening the Jewish character of the state. Sharon has repeatedly said the withdrawal is designed to allow Israel to hold on to all of Jerusalem and major parts of the West Bank - a strategy that raises questions about the prospects for peace since the Palestinians claim those areas for a state. Nevertheless, Palestinians celebrated the beginning of the end for the 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip, and militant factions competed for credit for expelling the Israelis with their violent five-year uprising. Israeli security forces entered two Gaza synagogues last Thursday to remove hundreds of chanting and clapping protesters holed up behind barricades and concertina wire in the second emotional day of forced evacuation of Israelis from the Gaza Strip. They moved first at the synagogue at Neve Dekalim, Gaza's largest settlement, after protesters ignored a police commander's ultimatum for them to leave and board buses waiting to take them out of the Gaza Strip. Then they entered the temple here at Kfar Darom, breaking down doors and spraying water cannons towards the roof to fend off protesters stationed there en masse. Youths on the roofs hurled paint bombs, eggs and rocks at the unarmed police, who were clad in riot gear and wielded shields. TV broadcasts showed authorities using a crane to hoist to the roof a giant cage made from a shipping container and filled with border policemen. Below, authorities dragged protesters one by one from inside the concrete, bunker-like building. At Neve Dekalim, TV images showed police and troops wrestling with protesters, who had linked arms on the floor, untangling and extracting them one by one. While the scene looked choatic, authorities appeared to be acting methodically, using only their hands and avoiding violence. At both temples, the protesters were said to be mostly young men from other parts of Israel rather than settlers. Meanwhile, officials reported that 11 of 21 settlements had been emptied so far, generally without significant violence, but here in this beachfront settlement and in another at Shirat Hayam, protesters remained. Israel plans to complete its evacuation of Neve Dekalim, as well as several other enclaves by the end of the day. The army has so far removed all civilians from six Gaza settlements. Meanwhile, soldiers went house to house in settlements across Gaza, removing people by force if they would not go voluntarily. The Israeli pullout is expected to last three to four weeks, according to Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, while one more month is needed to hand over the Jewish settlement area to the PNA. President Mahmoud Abbas in his quest to secure "calm" internally and externally told the evacuated Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip on Monday to "go in peace, and come to visit us as guests and tourists," set January 21 as the date for Palestinian legislative elections, while his ruling Fatah movement reached an agreement with the anti-occupation factions to form a ten-member committee to oversee the PNA administration of the Gaza evacuated areas. "Go in peace, and come to visit us as guests and tourists, but do not return as settlers and occupiers," Abbas addressed the Jewish settlers who are being evacuated from the Gaza Strip. During an interview with the Israeli daily the Yedioth Ahronoth, Abbas said: "This should have happened in 1967, this step comes 38 years late, but now I tell you leave our areas, because occupation and peace do not co-exist." "The Palestinians and Israelis are destined to live together in this land, as neighbors. This should be the base of a new, a peaceful new era," he said. The Palestinian slogan, which says "Gaza today, Jerusalem and the West Bank tomorrow," is legitimate, "this is what we are trying to achieve," he confirmed. "We will rebuild Gaza, it will be different than the Gaza Israel destroyed," Abbas stated, "but it is still early to celebrate, we will celebrate when the army and settlers leave." "I will personally visit the settlements, I will go to Gush Katif and participate in the celebrations," Abbas added. "I also respect the efforts Sharon is conducting, in spite of the opposition he faces." However, "if he [Sharon] wants real peace, then this withdrawal should not be the first and last step, he should do the same in the West Bank." "Israel is evacuating from the Gaza Strip, the causes are not important, what is important is that they are leaving our lands." He assured the Israelis their evacuation will not be under fire. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is determined to bar any attempt to fire at the settlers and soldiers during the evacuation process, he assured the Israelis. "Minor violations might happen", he said, "but Israel is also conducting violations." However Israel seemed determined to stick to Sharon's statements last week that he will not negotiate Jerusalem, will cling to major Israeli colonies in the West Bank and will not allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland in Israel. The illegal Jewish settlement blocs of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Efrat near Jerusalem, Ariel together with two more colonies in the northern West Bank, as well as those in the Jordan Valley "will remain under Israeli control," Israeli "Defense" Minister Shaul Mofaz told army radio. "The settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Jordan valley will remain under Israeli control," Mofaz said. The PNA reiterated its rejection of these Israeli statements, confirming that: "If they want peace, they must know that what is happening in the Gaza Strip must happen in the West Bank and east Jerusalem," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has stressed that evacuated areas in northern West Bank must be under a full Palestinian sovereignty. Speaking to the Voice of Palestine, Erekat said he met with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres over the issue. He said the Palestinian side wanted the Israeli disengagement plan to be implemented peacefully, adding he discussed with Peres the possibility of getting help of a third party in terms of crossings, seaport and airport. He added that if Israel wants peace it has to choose between peace and settlements as it is impossible to implement both. An Israeli cabinet majority approved on Monday Stage B of the evacuation operation in the Gaza Strip all of Gush Katif colonies - by sixteen ministers to four Likud dissenters. The evacuation of two out of four Jewish settlements slated for removal in the West Bank was completed on Monday, Israel's army said. "Ganim and Kadim settlements are both completely empty as of today," an army spokeswoman said. Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Mohammad Dahlan said that the Israeli evacuation of Jewish settlers from all the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank settlements would take two weeks. "After the two-week evacuation the settlements will be demolished," he added. Dahlan slammed Mofaz's statements in which he said that Israel would keep six major Jewish settlements in the West Bank under Israel's control in any permanent solution with the Palestinians. "The general Israeli attitude is not recognizing the basic legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. We have the right to live in our territories that Israeli occupied on 4 June 1967, and to have Jerusalem as our capitol," he said. He added that he is not in the position "to react to every Israeli statement made by Israeli officials that would serve Israeli parties interests. "But what I would say in this respect that settlements, refugees, Jerusalem, water and borders of the Palestinian state are final status issues and will be resolved through out the final status talks." Meanwhile internally the PNA had set a date for legislative elections and reached an agreement on the administration of the Gaza Strip after the Israeli evacuation. Representatives of the two main opposition factions the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad attended the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO executive committee issued a statement after the meeting, calling on every Palestinian to celebrate and "to show a civilized image from the territories that would be liberated." The committee also decided to keep its meetings open-ended in Gaza during the evacuation and the from Gaza and northern West Bank. Meanwhile the major Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Jihad, have agreed to jointly oversee how the PNA uses land left behind as Israeli settlers and soldiers depart the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said. The new committee is to have 10 members, including a leader of each of the seven major factions and three independent politicians. The new agreement secures internal stability and reduces the chances for disrupting the Israeli evacuation, Palestinian officials said. "I think Hamas can claim they have exacted what they need," said Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian legislator who helped negotiate the deal. "This agreement is a good way out for everyone." Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri however said that, "this committee doesn't meet all our needs - all we're asking for - but the Palestinian interest is stronger." "The objective of our participation is to guarantee that there will be no abuse of the public land, and the mechanism of this committee does not insure this completely," said Abu Zuhri. Meantime President Abbas set January 21 as the date for parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for July 17 this year. The decision was meant to show that the Palestinians are on the road to democracy, said Saeb Erakat. "Those who want to seek power need to do so through the ballot box, not bullets," he said. "We will not tolerate (violence.) Those who want to seek power need to do so through the ballot box, not bullets," he said. "Everyone ... will be focusing on Jan. 21, what will gain them votes and what will make them lose votes." "President Abbas has decided ... elections will be held on January 21. He will sign a decree setting the date as soon as the amended election law is published in the official gazette.." Erakat told Reuters. President Abbas ratified the amendments made by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to the Basic Law, to correlate with amendments made to the elections law. "The (PLO) Executive Committee agreed on the date proposed by Abu Mazen (Abbas) after consultations with the different factions," committee member Jamil al-Majdalawi told AFP. "We have accepted this date on condition that there are no further delays," added Majdalawi, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the Gaza Strip. Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said his group would hold its fire. "Hamas is committed to the quiet," he said, adding: "The ball is on the Israeli side now. If they will evacuate the Gaza Strip quietly, I think that there is no one among our people who will obstruct or violate this evacuation." In a televised address, the Israeli premier Sharon said Monday he understood the plight of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "We cannot hold onto Gaza forever. More than a million Palestinians live there and double their number with each generation. They live in uniquely crowded conditions in refugee camps, in poverty and despair, in hotbeds of rising hatred with no hope on the horizon," he said in a five-minute address. "The world is waiting for the Palestinian response -- a hand stretched out to peace or the fire of terror. To an outstretched hand we shall respond with an olive branch, but we shall fight fire with the harshest fire ever. In Egypt President Hosni Mubarak received Tuesday morning visiting former Israeli premier Ehud Barak who arrived here earlier in the day for talks with a number of top Egyptian officials on recent developments in the region in the light of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements. After Mubarak-Barak talks, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, Knesset members Colette Avital and Dani Yatom in addition to Barak's spokesperson and office director joined the meeting. The talks dwelt on a number of issues including developments in Israel and the Palestinian lands in the wake of disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank due to officially kick off Wednesday and runs for three weeks. Emerging from the meeting with President Mubarak, former Israeli premier Ehud Barak told reporters he was pleased to visit Egypt and meet with President Hosni Mubarak Cairo is the most important Arab capital and neighbour of Israel, he said. The former Israeli official said the current stage was a significant one in the region in the light of Gaza Strip disengagement, due to officially kick off Wednesday, adding that he hoped the pullout would go as planned at minimum inter-Israeli violence, and free from Palestinian attacks. It is a symbolic step when the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who backed settlement policy, took the decision to withdraw from Gaza Strip, he said. Barak expressed his gratitude to President Mubarak for backing the withdrawal plan, and deploying forces on Salah Eddin passage to stop smuggling weapons and terror attacks. On the other hand will Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation, offer the region another chance for peace? Or will it instead plunge the Middle East into greater turmoil and violence? How will the Palestinians react to the evacuation? Will they see it as an opportunity to encourage Israel to follow up with more withdrawals from West Bank settlements, allowing them to build a viable state? Or instead, will they hinder the withdrawal? "The real story is how the Palestinians will handle this," Edward Walker Jr. president of the Middle East Institute, a former U.S. ambassador who served in Israel and Egypt, and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, told United Press International. What Walker means is if the Palestinians will try to show themselves and the world that they are able to adequately manage territory handed back to them, and in what manner will they govern those areas. Will the transition be smooth, or will the extremists get away with fomenting trouble and inciting violence? "Thus far Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) has done a fabulous job getting the (Palestinian) security forces into consultations with the Israelis. So far he has been able to meet the test," said Walker. On the other hand, if the Israelis decide to stop after Gaza, then that could be the end of the "road map," and the beginning of trouble. "I think they (the Palestinians) will be cautious. If Israel says no further steps, then there could be more violence," said Walker. As Dennis Ross, a former U.S. Middle East negotiator noted: "If they (the Palestinians) can show the world and the Israeli public that they can govern Gaza effectively and fulfill their security obligations, they will be in a strong position to argue that the Gaza model should also be applied to the West Bank. "If they cannot, if Gaza devolves into chaos and violence, who is going to argue for Israel's turning over more territory for an eventual Palestinian state?" For the moment the onus is entirely on the Palestinians, he added.