Israelis And Palestinians Agree To Re-Launch Negotiation Talks For First Time In 7 Years

AP:

Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Tuesday to immediately resume long-stalled talks toward creating an independent Palestinian state by the end of next year, using a U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference to launch their first negotiations in seven years.

In a joint statement read by President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to start discussions on the core issues of the conflict next month and accepted the United States as arbiter of interim steps.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[Birdman]

06:35 PM on 11/28/2007

We would not be in this situation if GW had not told them when he took office he was not going to uphold any agreements reached by Clinton. I wonder how many here remember that little tid bit.

[Horst]

04:15 PM on 11/28/2007

I miss the quiet dignity of Arafat's funeral.

[Horst]

03:52 PM on 11/28/2007

Islamic sewer states don't want peace...they need something to distract their people from the unsustainable population growth and corruption. Israel isn't going to change with Iran and its acolytes rearing their heads.

[Rubiconski]

01:55 PM on 11/28/2007

About time Israeli TERRORISM was recognized for what it is: Terrorism onto civilians by a military force.

Israel has been illegally terrorizing civilians for 60+ years. When a STATE acts like this it is much less forgivable than when a fringe group engages in Terror as a form of resistance.

There is nothing to stop Israel from engaging in terrorism on a unilateral basis.

Indulging the Revisionist penchant for ruthless terrorism has besmirched Israel's reputation over the last 60 years and it would benefit Israel to stop.

[Rubiconski]

01:25 PM on 11/28/2007

What kind of a "peace agreement" can you have when you don't even include the elected leader of one of the countries?

Whatever our officials are on, they need to get off.

[ctbutte]

12:47 PM on 11/28/2007

Nothing shows the true jew hatred of huffpuffers like one of these threads.

Progressive indeed.

[StillAmused]

11:15 AM on 11/28/2007

Renewed talks for the first time in SEVEN years?

A cookie to the first contestant who can identify the co-inky-dink...

[pzdoff]

10:35 AM on 11/28/2007

Once again our national embarassment, George W. Bush, shows his stupidity by not even being able to pronounce the names of the the principals in this so called peace agreement. You would think that the people who dress him, tie his shoes, and comb his hair would at least see to it that the national fool, the appointed leader of the free world could handle this one task, get the names right. Instead we get the stumbling, bumbling butchery of two simple names. America deserves better than this.

[Boobaloo]

10:20 AM on 11/28/2007

Abbas is a hand picked puppet who will yelp everytime Israel demands it and do pirouttes whenever the USA demands it.

He doesnt have the support of the Palestinian people and he's very effectively bending over and letting Zionists screw the Palestinians out of their birthright.

Propping up dictators that the Arab people do not support is a disasterous speciality of Israel and the United States, look at Iraq and Iran for case studies. No matter what we and Israel do we can not seem to dominate the Arab people for very long and when they fight back the results are not good for anyone.

Olmert is a war criminal for his war against Lebanon but, he's one of a very loooooong line of Israeli war criminals.

These two clowns need to go home and do what they do best,which is nothing good.

[reaganthegreat]

09:45 AM on 11/28/2007

Whether or not you believe that Israel has a right to exist does not matter. They are there and some sort of peaceful resolution is necessary. Unfortunately, there are maximalists on each side who interfere with the process. Yes, Hamas was elected, but they are a terrorist organization largely funded by Iran. So their presence at this conference should be denied. Any peaceful resolutions that are negotiated won't matter to them. When Israel gives up land, rockets still seem to kill Jews. When they withdrew from Lebanon, Hezbollah stepped right in to fill the void and proceeded to launch bombs and rockets at Israel. If the rest of the Arab world cared as much about the Palestinian people as they hate the Jewish people, they would have absorbed most of the refugees a long time ago. Saudi Arabia has a lot of land and a lot of money to accomplish much of the feat.

[geobushono]

09:02 AM on 11/28/2007

WE must diminish the influence of zionists in our Country......they are clearly more cohesive in their goals than OUR gov't is to our people.

The next President needs to present the situation in short sentences so the masses finally get it.
It'll be a bloody debate, but once the People recognize this tyranny, the inertia will take over and israel will be forced to learn what they have never accepted in 5000 years......how to live in Peace with their neighbors.

[Cojonú]

08:05 AM on 11/28/2007

Notice the U.S. is the only country who keeps insisting in having 'Peace' between Arabs and Jews; the rest of the world could care less ( maybe they know something we don't ).
I say let them kill each other off, they'll be doing the world a favor.
These are 'Little people, Silly people, Greedy, Barbarous and Cruel'.
Let's step back and enjoy how they whack each other off; hell, they've been doing it for thousands of years; they're good at it.
There will never be peace between them, they like fighting each other too much; it's in their DNA.
So relax, go get a cool one and enjoy the fight.
It makes for good sport.

[Dap]

08:00 AM on 11/28/2007

Religion is the root of all evil!

It is without any doubt the devil's playground.

The God of Abraham is a farce.

Those that subscribe to this antiquated and patriarchal system of the Abrahamic tribal traditions do Humanity a great disservice thus they are absent any true spirituality. They are the creators of Hell.

[priorzola]

04:26 AM on 11/28/2007

Bush refuses to sit with Hamas just as he refused to sit with Arafat. He couldn't bring himself to sit with someone he considers a terrorist even if that person has the overwhelming support of the people. This is anti-thetical to democracy as well as to peace. When it comes to diplomacy, you don't get to choose your bed fellows. If everyone shared the same point of view, there would be no need for diplomacy. It is only important that those involved represent the will of a significant portion of the population. That is the only authority they need and the only criteria in which they need to fit.

It's highly suspect that Condi Rice has the political fortitude to pull off anything significant. If the history of the administration has taught us anything is a) they have a destructive obsession with their own stubborness and b)they do not possess the necessary political sophistication to pull of the intricate and nuanced level of diplomacy necessary to follow through on an Israeli/Palestinian peace process.

Israel and Palestine do need a objective 3rd party to come in and help them resolve their issues. Their own power brokers have too much at stake to step outside of the status quo and the memory of the life and unfortunate death of Rabin looms large for anyone who dares ventures too far from the current path.

The state of Israel is one of the most ambitious geo-political experiments of the modern world. It was only going to work with a huge effort from those in the UN and the West who helped form it. That effort has fallen short too many times to mention. Only a truly dedicate effort by US leaders (and the purse-strings that come with it) will bring any hope. Israel/Palestine needs someone who will state "neither of you are right and neither of you are wrong, but you have a future either together or next to one another and that's what we're going to talk about. That future, not the past."

[FogBelter]

04:03 AM on 11/28/2007

Does Abbas even speak for the Palestinians, or is just being propped up in a chair for photo ops?

I don't recall hearing that Hamas and Fatah have kissed and made up. So, what is Abbas even able to offer, and what are his promises worth?

Seems pretty hollow, but it makes Bush and Condi happy and that's all that really matters.