http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130992
April 23, '09
by Avraham Zuroff
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, stated Wednesday that the States would not finance or participate in contacts with a government run by Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs that included Hamas unless it would renounce violence and recognize Israel. Clinton furthermore stated that three conditions, which were adopted by the international community, would have to be fulfilled before the US would deal with a PA that includes Hamas. "We will not deal with nor in any way fund a Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless and until Hamas has renounced violence, recognized Israel and agrees to follow the previous obligations of the Palestinian Authority," Clinton told the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Clinton’s appearance in the House of Representatives was the first since her confirmation hearings in January.
Regarding the diplomatic process between Israel and the PA, Clinton said that Washington is actively involved in assisting the sides in arriving at a two-state solution.
US Running Dual Diplomacy towards Iran
Clinton told the Washington lawmakers that the Obama administration is running a dual-track program in its persuading Iran to prevent its development of nuclear weaponry.
“We are more than willing to reach out to the Iranians to discuss a range of issues,” should Tehran reciprocate, Clinton stated. However, if all else fails, Clinton said that the U.S. would implement sanctions towards Iran. “We are also laying the groundwork for the kind of very tough sanctions, I think you said crippling sanctions, that might be necessary in the event that our offers are either rejected or the process is inconclusive or unsuccessful,” Clinton added.
Iran said Wednesday that it is open to “constructive dialogue” with world powers regarding its nuclear ambitions. However, chief nuclear negotiator Said Jalili told Iranian news agencies that Iran would not halt its nuclear program.
Last week, Ahmadinejad stated that Iran would present a package of proposals to a group of permanent members of the UN’s Security Council who favor dialogue with Iran. The package, a revamp of Iran’s proposals offered in May 2008, would be presented as “solving the world’s problems” – including the setting-up of a uranium enrichment facility and nuclear fuel manufacturing plant in Iran.
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(IsraelNN.com) Arab Faces Death for Land Sale
by Hillel Fendel
As a Palestinian Authority Arab faces the death sentence for selling land to Jews, a civil rights group asks Prime Minister Netanyahu to demand that PA rescind death penalty for the “crime.”
The Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Civil Rights Organization has written an urgent letter to Binyamin Netanyahu and ministers in his government in light of the opening of the trial this week. According to PA law, the defendant faces the death penalty if convicted.
The letter, addressed to Netanyahu and the Ministers of Justice, Defense, and Public Security, states, “The Land of Israel is now the only place in the world where the law officially bans the sale of land to Jews because they are Jews. Even worse, the punishment for violators is actually death.”
The organization says that Netanyahu’s government must set an ultimatum: “No negotiations with the Palestinian Authority until this anti-Semitic law is rescinded. This demand takes precedence even over the insistence that the PA recognize Israel as a Jewish state.”
The trial of the Hevron resident in a special PA court began on Tuesday, with the defendant accused of having sold land in the Hevron area to Jews. The Yesha group asks Netanyahu and the ministers to step in to save the man, who is being charged with treason.
Israel’s intervention in the past has caused the PA to release others who had been jailed on suspicion of selling land to Jews. These include Arab-Israelis living in eastern Jerusalem.
Strook: "Such a Law is a Red Light for Diplomatic Relations"
Orit Strook of the Jewish Community of Hevron, the director of the Yesha Civil Rights group, says, “Israel would never have diplomatic relations with any country that has on its books a law forbidding the sale of land to Jews.”
Her organization’s letter states that the confiscation of Beit HaShalom (Peace House) from its rightful Jewish owners in Hevron several months ago is directly related to the fact that Arabs must fear for their lives when selling to Jews: “The Israeli authorities act as if the Arab sellers are free people, when in fact a gun is pointed at their heads and they must do everything they can to hide their actions – and this is why they claimed after the sale of Beit HaShalom [to Jew that they never sold it.”
“So long as the ‘Palestinian rule of law’ is not uprooted from its source,” the letter concludes, “all the talk about Israeli rule of law in Judea and Samaria has no foothold in reality.”
Comments from Aggie: Either the headline does not accurately reflect the article or Clinton misses the mark. She speaks of what Hamas must do, yet the PA is no different. Abbas recently became hysterical when Netanyahu suggested that the PA recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Worse yet, to date the PA charter continues to call for the destruction of Israel, while incitement, terror, and death sentence for selling land to Jews is a fact of everyday life. The PA has met none of its obligations under the Road Map, yet it demands an end to Jews living in Judea and Samaria and the flooding of Israel with its "refugees."
The PA makes many demands but is willing to give up nothing. Its actions demonstrate zero good faith. This is not a willing peace partner. Wake up Hillary!
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Best,
Aggie
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