Tuesday, August 04, 2009



Report details future Palestinian state - UPI.com:
UPI reports"Palestinians and Israelis will be able to enter Jerusalem's Old City without carrying passports. A multinational force stationed in the Old City will be on hand to enforce law and order, and will have the power to make arrests, the paper said. A separate multinational force will be deployed on the Temple Mount."

Jerusalem Standoff Threatens Middle East Peace Plans - TIME
Times Magazine reports: "Israel seized control of the eastern portion of the Holy City during the war of 1967, but its claim to sovereignty over the occupied portion of Jerusalem has never been internationally recognized. Under the Oslo peace process launched in 1993, Jerusalem was defined as one of the 'final status' issues to be negotiated in a peace agreement, but finding a solution for sharing the city has been one of the thorniest matters."

Comment: Please join me in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and encouraging your government, wherever you live, to do the same.

I wanted to highlight these two reports together. The first one is important because it clearly describes the general outlines of the emerging peace plan and notes how the plan will deal with the Temple Mount. The second report notes that Jerusalem remains the most important stumbling block and that the U.S. will have to force Israel into making extreme concessions and will face great opposition in doing so. The conclusion I draw from these two reports is that 'final status' issues are being negotiated right now by the Obama Administration and the Israelis and Palestinians. Actually, not so much that Palestinians, as they remain in a "take it or leave it" corner of their own making. Their only leverage is to let Hamas complete their takeover of Palestinian society and renounce the peace process, something Fatah will never do, so they will accede to whatever plan the U.S. and Israel can agree on. Any of the previous peace plans would still give them a "victory" for their "people" to celebrate. The only real question, at the end of this process is, how quickly will the government of Israel sell out Jerusalem and what will they get in return?

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