Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

BELIEVE IT OR NOT SAYS POWELL - "PALESTINIAN STATE"

October 2, 2001

MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/02: It took them who intially talked of "crusade" nearly three weeks to figure out that all the "coalition building" wasn't going nearly as well as they keep saying in public and that doing something about all the Israeli oppression and "terrorism" against the essentially imprisoned Palestinian population would be a good idea in the post 11 September world and before the bombs start falling on Muslims here and there. Now you could interpret the following Reuters headline in two ways. The first way, the way it is meant to be, is that before the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon the U.S. was getting ready to do what just about everyone else in the world has done, including Ariel Sharon the extreme right-wing Prime Minister of Israel, and utter publicly the term "Palestinian State". But the other way to interpret the headline, and the way that is probably closer to reality, is that the U.S. is pushing this line now before the attacks start on Afghanistan and then roll on to Iraq and all who are "either with us or against us"...which is quite a long list actually.

First of all believing public American pronouncements when it comes to matters Middle Eastern long ago became absurd -- even if PBS, CNN, and FOX -- as well as much of the controlled Arab media -- keep playing that game largely succumbing to all the deceitful propaganda and clever distortions.

Second of all the "Palestinian State" being talked about because of the "Peace Process" is no real state at all, it is what Ariel Sharon and others on the extreme Israeli right have worked toward and publicly spoken of themselves for some twenty years now, going back to the "Reagan Plan" that followed the Israeli/U.S. war on Lebanon -- which by the way resulted in the death of some four to five times as many civilians as were killed on 11 Sept, but in a country with just a fraction of the population of the U.S., including thousands of defensely women and children knifed and hacked to death by Lebanese allies then armed and supported by none other than America's regional strongman, Israel.

U.S. SET TO BACK PALESTINIAN STATE BEFORE ATTACKS

NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The Bush administration had been ready to announce its backing for the creation of a Palestinian state before the Sept. 11 attacks against U.S. targets, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell was to have supported the idea in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, marking the first time a Republican administration has come out in favor of a Palestinian state.

The general debate of the 189-nation General Assembly has been postponed indefinitely due to the strain on New York's security services caused by the hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center.

"Before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the Bush administration was on the verge of announcing a Middle East diplomatic initiative that would include United States support for the creation of a Palestinian state," the paper said.

It said President George W. Bush was still considering making a forceful declaration on resolving the Middle East conflict but that the timing has not yet been decided.

The New York Times said U.S. intervention in the Middle East conflict has assumed much broader importance as the administration tries to enlist Arab backing in forcing Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to end their support of Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.

Four planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon near Washington and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11 and more than 5,700 people were reported dead or missing in the attacks.

Bush has been less involved in trying to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict than his predecessor Bill Clinton.

"But the plan Secretary Powell was preparing to present included proposals for a comprehensive settlement and an American role in carrying it out," the paper said.

Clinton proposed a Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, on condition that the Palestinians give some of the West Bank to Israel and give up their claim that refugees have a right to return to Israel.

Peace efforts have been sunk in the last year by violence in which at least 604 Palestinians and 169 Israelis have been killed.

"At the State Department, some officials argue that Secretary Powell should make the planned speech sooner rather than later, and certainly before military operations begin against Mr. bin Laden and his forces inside Afghanistan," The New York Times said.

U.S. officials are also considering whether to appoint a special Middle East envoy, the newspaper said.

U.S. EFFORT TO MIDEAST PEACE ON HOLD

By Barry Schweid

WASHINGTON (Associated Press - 10/02) - The terrorist attacks on the United States sidetracked an initiative by the Bush administration to launch Israel and the Palestinians into a new peacemaking process that only now is beginning to take shape again, a senior U.S. official said Monday.

It was understood by Israel as well as the Palestinians that the outcome, if successful, would include creation of a Palestinian state, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The administration planned to make its efforts public at the special session of the U.N. General Assembly set for Sept. 24, but the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington temporarily sidetracked the plan.

The resumption of high-level talks between Israel and the Palestinians last week, arranged through persistent telephone urging by Secretary of State Colin Powell, has revived momentum to the U.S. drive, the official said.

In the weeks leading up to the scheduled U.N. session, Powell had quietly begun pressing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to reopen peace talks that broke down at the end of the Clinton administration.

Publicly, however, administration officials emphasized mostly a need for an end to violence and the beginning of a peacemaking gestures recommended by a special commission headed by former Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell.

Powell began his effort amid an escalation of violence that began a year ago and grew more intense with no serious peacemaking in prospect.

The administration had hoped that its high-profile intervention timed to the U.N. meeting would serve as a response to worldwide complaints that the United States was detached from the Arab-Israeli conflict and had lost interest in the peacemaking process. These complaints, the official said, tended to distract attention from other world problems, and could have kept the assembly from addressing a host of serious issues.

By using the General Assembly session to disclose newly energized U.S. interest, administration officials hoped to attract support for its new major push in the region.

The Bush administration's quiet approach stands in sharp contrast to the Clinton administration's prolonged public campaign to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the United States providing its own blueprint for an overall accord.

However, by declaring its intentions publicly, the Bush administration would have taken on a role more like that of its predecessor. In fact, Powell said last week that as Israel and the Palestinians accelerate their meetings, the United States would become progressively more involved.

At the U.N. meeting, which was postponed indefinitely, the Bush administration had planned to outline its overall view of a final settlement, including important questions about borders, the right of Palestinians refugees to return to Israel and possibly the future of Jerusalem, according to The New York Times, which first reported the initiative on its Web site Monday night.

The newspaper also said President Bush planned to meet with Arafat during that U.N. gathering in New York.



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Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/10/432.htm