US: Israel, Palestinians Agree To Indirect Talks

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Monday that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to indirect peace talks brokered by U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell.

In a statement released as Vice President Joe Biden is visiting Israel, Mitchell, who is also in the region, said he was pleased that the two sides had accepted the proposal for talks that will see him shuttle between Israel and the Palestinian territories over the next several weeks.

"We've begun to discuss the structure and scope of these talks and I will return to the region next week to continue our discussions," he said. "As we've said many times, we hope that these will lead to direct negotiations as soon as possible."

The announcement followed disclosure of Israel's authorization to construct 112 new apartments in the West Bank despite a pledge to slow down settlement building. That move enraged the Palestinians just a day after they said they would resume the peace talks.

Mitchell appealed to the two sides not to do anything that could jeopardize the talks.

"We also again encourage the parties, and all concerned, to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks," he said.

Comments

[Jay-DC]

12:24 PM on 03/09/2010

The photo says it all, Israel and the Palestinians is really just Israel and America. Whatever those two decide, will be the fate of millions of Palestinians.

[liveordie]

07:45 PM on 03/14/2010

You are so right on. Have a fan and stay cool.

[totaldisbelief]

09:32 AM on 03/09/2010

anyone care to do chapter and verse about Iz nukes and the hoo haa about Iran's possible enrichment and steps towards a nuke...or our own new nukes?
I'm tired of talking about the hypocrisy

[JustMeInNY]

07:38 PM on 03/09/2010

totaldisbelief says:

"I'm tired of talking about the hypocrisy"

So don't, no one is forcing you to.

[MGarin]

08:35 AM on 03/09/2010

The Jews get their own country. It's called Israel. Grow up and deal with it.

[Macready]

08:57 AM on 03/09/2010

the real issue is not that the Jews get their own country . . they got it in 1948 . . . and it had certain boundaries . . . . the real issue is that under international law israel must return to its pre-war 1967 boundaries . . there is not right of conquest . . they are in violation of international law . . . the Palestinians have been ghettosised because they voted in legal elections for Hamas . . israel did not like this . . . hence the Berlin-style wall . . . israel steals Palestinian land and water . . . this applies to both Christians and Muslims . . . every time the US has called for a settlement halt . . . israel increased the number of illegal settlements it builds . . . this is plainly theft of Palestinian land . . . but the US Congress is owned by the aipac . . . so therefore they let israel get away with literally murder . . . the shell casings used in Operation Cast Lead said a lot . . . they were made in the usa . . . the US is subsidizings this rogue state because it is too cowardly to oppose it . . and in consequence is just as guilty as israel of flouting international law and its war crimes . . . I don't like my tax dollars going to this rogue state that destroys the

[Macready]

09:58 AM on 03/09/2010

just wanted to add: I don'st want my tax dollars gong to this rogue state that destroys the lives of the Palestinian people and gives money to the israelis who have not only a socialised medical system but who receive child care subsidies when both American children and Palestinian people are suffering . . . the American people are going to have to stand up and march on Washington because our elected officials are still towing the aipac party line.

[yankees]

10:22 AM on 03/09/2010

Excuse me but the Middle Easy had many Jewish settlements before the invention of Islam when Jews were tortured, expelled or forced to conversion. Of course that doesn't count because its ancient History.

[Wisdo]

09:03 AM on 03/09/2010

..and they get the Palestinians too?

[Dailykook]

09:35 AM on 03/09/2010

unfortunately.

[liveordie]

07:48 PM on 03/14/2010

He who has the backing and the bigger guns gets the most property, sadly.

[Whinger]

07:27 AM on 03/09/2010

A total farce, nothing more than a PR exercise in futility!

[Macready]

08:06 AM on 03/09/2010

totally agree . . . I wonder if this has anything to do with Biden's visit:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8556266.stm

"Israel is expected to unveil plans this week to build a nuclear power plant, reports say.

They say an announcement will be made by Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau at an energy forum in Paris. "

and they haven't even signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty . . . . .

[Wisdo]

05:02 AM on 03/09/2010

Joe Biden said ""there is absolutely no space between Israel and US" where Israel's security is concerned."

Nora Barrows-Friedman writing from Hebron, 8 March 2010:

Hours after our interview, at 2am, Israeli soldiers would break into the house, snatch Amir from his bed, threaten his parents with death by gunfire if they tried to protect him, and take him downstairs under the stairwell. They would beat him so badly that he would bleed internally into his abdomen, necessitating overnight hospitalization. In complete shock and distress, Amir would not open his mouth to speak for another day and a half."

Amir is 10 years old. Is beating children supported by America so that there is "absolutely no space" between the US and ISrael?

"Consumed by their sons' situations, Mukarrem and Fadel say they are trying to do the best for their family under attack. "What can we do?" asked Fadel. "We lock the doors. We lock the windows. We have nothing with which to protect our family and our neighbors from the soldiers or the settlers. If a Palestinian kidnapped and beat and jailed an Israeli child, the whole world would be up in arms about it. It would be all over the media. But the Israelis, they come into our communities with jeeps and tanks and bulldozers, they take our children and throw them into prison, and no one cares.""

[Macready]

05:25 AM on 03/09/2010

great blog Wisdo . . wonder if biden will respond . . . kind of doubt it . . .

our poltiicians may be owned by the aipac and israel but we're not . . . . and fortunately neither is the rest of the world . . . it is more than time that the Palestinians had the justice they so rightly deserve . . .

[Ric NYC]

07:17 PM on 03/08/2010

Free Palestine!

[chaimschwartz]

11:40 PM on 03/08/2010

Tell us where it is so you can free it!

[jake42]

11:47 PM on 03/08/2010

It's everything outside the Partition borders of Israel bordered by Lebanon,Syria,Jordan and Egypt...didn't you know that?

[Dailykook]

08:57 AM on 03/09/2010

From themselves.

[skialethia]

06:02 PM on 03/08/2010

Some people here live in a constant delusional state, and I must admit that this site actually enables this deception with articles that 99% of the time are soft on Israel.

However, when you step out of the narrow confines of this narrow room, you encounter a refreshing and expansive truth and the realistic reflection of this charade:

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/as-biden-touches-down-israel-announces-112-new-settlement-units-in-stark-violation-of-freeze.html

Thank God there are many people out there working to ensure that Palestinians are not swindled neither by their leadership nor especially by Israel who not only thumb their nose at peace but don't intend to relinquish an inch or give back what they stole to achieve peace.

[Inoku]

06:10 PM on 03/08/2010

Beitar Illit is right next to the Green Line and would obviously be included in any land-swap decided in negotiations. Building there is as uncontroversial as building in Ashkelon.

[skialethia]

06:50 PM on 03/08/2010

Guess you didn't bother to read the article about the rise of illegal settlement activity in 2009.

And who cares whether it's "right next", when you consider that Israel steals 10% land with the wall here, with an added settlement there, with a few more condos next to the Green Line over there, and when you combine all that what do you get??? You get major land theft to the tune of 750,000 acres!

So please spare me your excuse and your spin.

[chaimschwartz]

11:43 PM on 03/08/2010

Doesn't say much for so-called "Palestinian Leadership" if you're worried even they would SWINDLE their own people...does it?? ( psst...the answer is ...NO!)

[pgmark]

04:08 PM on 03/08/2010

Lets look on the bright If peace can be achieved - there is a better future for all involved.

Secondly typical poster to all things anti-Israel will have to find something to do with their very small lives.
They may have to get out of their parents basement and maybe even find a job.
Oh the humanity!

[stephenlight]

02:19 PM on 03/08/2010

The sooner the talks start and conclude, the sooner some peace can start to be built. I hope cooler heads prevail on both sides.

[skialethia]

05:33 PM on 03/08/2010

You're dreaming. Wake up! This is a farce.

[Inoku]

05:51 PM on 03/08/2010

Pro-Israel poster: I can't wait for peace!
Skialethia: NO! CAN'T YOU SEE THIS PEACE IS A SHAM! I'LL GET YOU AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!

This is what I see every time you post. It's pretty entertaining, so by all means keep posting: just letting you know what it sounds like to the rest of us.

[george389]

01:59 AM on 03/09/2010

I hope there will be peace. I hope people like you will stop hoping for more war and more bloodshed in the name of some perverted conception of justice.

There is nothing wrong with hoping for peace, and it is not a dream.

[StCuthbert]

05:47 PM on 03/08/2010

Well said. Negotiating as equals is the only way to get both sides to compromise and reach a peaceful settlement.

[skialethia]

06:55 PM on 03/08/2010

Equals??? HAHAHAHAHA!

[SpoonieLuv]

01:38 PM on 03/08/2010

Looks like it's that time of the year again, when the Israeli government has to pretend to be interested in peace so that it can secure more welfare from the United States. The time has come for the US to stop acting as Israel's unconditional benefactor and to start dictating the terms of peace in the Israeli and Palestinian Territories.

[GZLives]

02:25 PM on 03/08/2010

Who was the party that chose war instead of peace three times ?
Maybe you're too young to remember when the Arabs were promising to drive the Jews into the sea

[alysheba 3]

03:05 PM on 03/08/2010

The party that keeps stealing land makes a choice. The others simply try to defend their homes.

[SpoonieLuv]

03:42 PM on 03/08/2010

Even if it were the goal of Arabs to drive Israel into the sea, how is that a problem of the United States? It may have mattered when the Soviet Union was supplying Arab nations, but how is Israel in any way relevant to current US interests?

[lightningbolt]

03:16 PM on 03/08/2010

U.S. aid to Israel is not unconditional. You should read the documents. Most of the money the U.S. gives Israel is required to go back into the U.S. in the form of purchases of U.S. goods.

[SpoonieLuv]

03:40 PM on 03/08/2010

Which means that Israel is getting American weapons for free. We are basically giving a gift certificate for the world's most advanced weapons to a state opponent of basic human rights. Tell me, what has Israel done to deserve such charity from us?

[alysheba 3]

04:19 PM on 03/08/2010

So sending MOST of the money back is better than the US spending ALL of the money on education, health care, infrastructure................?

[Smithn]

01:32 PM on 03/08/2010

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world.' --Gandhi

[Rand]

01:13 PM on 03/08/2010

We can only hope that Mitchell doesn't pick one side and then sell out the other, as he did by threatening the nationalist community of northeastern Ireland with immediate war if they did not agree with the plan agreed upon by him, the British government and those who signed an agreement which betrayed every principle they once held... and who now own (Surprise!) luxurious vacation homes in Co. Donegal

[stephenlight]

02:51 PM on 03/08/2010

I'm curious. What princiles were betrayed by the Northern Ireland participants? It seems to me that neither side got the whole pie and there has been greater peace than in some times past....

[Rand]

04:57 PM on 03/08/2010

I answered you, breaking no HP rules

Apparently the position of Sinn Fein Poblachtach/Republican Sinn Fein, a LEGAL POLITICAL PARTY IN BOTH IRISH JURIDICTIONS isn't permitted to be put forth here

[alysheba 3]

12:53 PM on 03/08/2010

And Israel immediately undermines the decision of the PA by approving the building of more apartments in a West Bank settlement. You know, one of the West Bank settlements that Israel says they vacated because of a signed treaty.

Israel has authorised the building of 112 new apartments in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8555300.stm

Will Joe Biden hold Israel accountable for it's continued land theft while he is in Israel?

[Talossa]

02:10 PM on 03/08/2010

112 apartments vs. more than 112 years of unrelenting jihad... kind of a funny balance.

[alysheba 3]

03:10 PM on 03/08/2010

Yeah, unfortunately the US seems to believe it is okay to kill a thief who breaks into your home unless the thief is in an IDF uniform and the home belongs to a Palestinian.

There would not be 112 years of unrelenting hate if Israel hadn't killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and stolen land.

But it's easier for Israel's supporters to blame the victims. That way Israel never has to take any blame.

[Ergon]

12:24 AM on 03/09/2010

112 apartments for 250,000 Israeli settlers? Oy vey!

[GZLives]

02:27 PM on 03/08/2010

There wasn't one single settlement pre 1967 ... in case you forgot, there also wasn't a day without violence and then all out war
Settlements?
Pleeease stop the drivel

[alysheba 3]

04:21 PM on 03/08/2010

The settlements started long before 1967, as you well know. The started back in the 1900's.