Ted Koppel says Terrorism is the weapon of the weak. If terrorism is the weapon of the weak, why are society’s weakest its most common victims? (TLV)A Palestinian newspaper published a document Tuesday it claimed to be Palestinian Authority guidelines for the upcoming peace talks with Israel. Published by Palestine Today, an organ of the Islamic Jihad terror group, the list was flagged by anonymous blogger Elder of Ziyon who translated the 10 touchstone points of the talks. The list includes the following key items: Land swaps of roughly 8-10% of the territory of the West Bank; residents in “frozen” settlements will be given the choice of citizenship at the conclusion of the process; Jerusalem will be placed under joint international, Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian rule for ten years with Israelis being given the choice as to their nationality. While it is unclear how the document was leaked, Elder of Ziyon claimed that it could have possibly been from Russian sources. The Palestine Today report also points to Hamas, which is not party to Wednesday’s talks, as being the source of the information. (EOZ) Were the guidelines for the "peace" talks leaked? (update) Palestine Today, an organ of Islamic Jihad, has been a surprisingly good source for accurate news (that doesn't involve Islamic Jihad.) They published a set of supposed guidelines for the "peace" talks starting this week, and they don't sound like someone's idea of misinformation. It is expected that negotiations will take 6-9 months and will be based on the following guidelines:1) Bilateral talks without any preconditions but following the guidelines listed here.
2) Jordan will participate in meetings relating to refugees, Jerusalem and borders where necessary.
3) "The security barrier will establish a security border for the Jewish state and a permanent border for the Palestinian state, subject to change by mutual agreement" (h/t Ali) Not sure what this means unless they are saying that Israel's borders will not go beyond the Green Line, which is strange if there is a land swap.
4) Land swaps of roughly 8-10% of the territory of the West Bank
5) Israel freezes construction on some outposts, but not on existing settlement blocs including Maaleh Adumim, Har Homa, Gilo, Neve Yaakov, Ramat Shlomo, Kiryat Arba, and some others with large populations
6) Residents in the "frozen" settlements will be given the choice of citizenship at the conclusion of the process
7) At the end of the negotiations it will be announced that the conflict is over and there will be full normalization of relations between Israel and all Arab countries announced at an Arab League meeting; Israel recognizing Palestine within the borders mentioned above and Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people
8) At the end of negotiations some Palestinian families will be allowed to re-unite in the WB and Gaza; others will get he right of compensation or immigration to Arab countries, especially Gulf countries, with them being naturalized in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar; not sure about the source of the compensation
9) Jerusalem will be placed under joint international/Palestinian/Israel/Jordanian rule for ten years with Israelis having the choice as to their nationality
10) I think that outstanding issues on specific land issues as well as citizenship issues both within the area and in Gulf countries will be pushed off to committees to speak about in coming years.
Also some details on prisoner releases, Palestinian elections, when the details of the agreement would be made public. It sounds like this document might have been sent to Moscow by Abbas for consultations, and it might have been leaked that way.
Meanwhile.... Hate gives Arabs a collective identity that is far more important than peace is. This story illustrates it in this question posed to an Arab before 1967 by Martha Gellhorn.
"If the position were reversed, if the Jews had started the war and lost it, if you had won the war, would you now accept Partition? Would you give up part of the country and allow the 650,000 Jewish residents of Palestine -who had fled from the war--to come back?" "Certainly not," he said, without an instant's hesitation. "But there would have been no Jewish refugees. They had no place to go. They would all be dead or in the sea."
...as illustrated...
Some went out to kill any Jew that would pass by; others targeted specific civilians. One killed a Holocaust survivor. Another killed an 84 year old man with an axe. Yet another targeted a 51 year old woman in the car where she would give rides to Arab workers. To Israel's "peace partner" Mahmoud Abbas, and to his people, they are heroes.
