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QUESTION: You talked about the importance of deciding on the borders because that’s one way of — and I wonder if you’ve given any serious thought to the possibility of trying to reach an agreement just on borders.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, part of the difficulty in negotiations like this is that the issues are intertwined. You know, borders and security, issues concerning Jerusalem, and issues concerning borders, and issues concerning refugees — they’re all part — and by the way, not only the big four of final status, but also issues of state-to-state relations, issues of economic relations. They’re all very intertwined. And I believe the parties have adopted the right strategy here, which is that they work on all of them, recognizing that some may move more quickly than others, but also recognizing that nothing can be agreed till everything is agreed.
And it’s just very difficult to imagine a circumstance under which you could separate somehow the border issue from these other important issues. That doesn’t mean that you can’t work on the border issue separate from the others, but it’s hard to imagine that you could really resolve it without dealing with the companion issues.
QUESTION: The Israeli political situation has probably gotten even more complicated since you were there last. And I know you don’t like to comment on internal politics, but you’re going to be seeing sort of a lot of the relevant parties here. To what extent are you concerned that their own internal political positionings and so forth will make things difficult for you to have a receptive ear?
SECRETARY RICE: I can only go on what I’ve been told by all of the relevant parties, as you call them, which is that they’re committed to the Annapolis process, they’re committed to trying to move the negotiations forward, they’re committed to trying to meet Israel’s obligations under the various tracks of Annapolis. And I will treat the parties in their respective roles: prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister. Those are the meetings that I’m having. And we’ll have an opportunity to talk about moving forward on the peace process and moving forward on Israel’s obligations. And you know, as I said, the Middle East is never uncomplicated, so best just to focus on the task at hand.
The above is taken from…
Remarks to the Traveling Press
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
En route Tel Aviv, Israel
You can read all of her remarks HERE
Robin said,
June 15, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Be prepared for the grand masquerade of US “diplomacy” concerning Israel/Palestine to be laid bare once again. The host for the”ball” is issuing it’s invitation this coming week, the self-appointed guest of honor, the US has a choice, or does it? Will the US continue to play the court jester to it’s zionist master, or will they decide it is time they no longer play the joker in light of Rice’s supposed roll in wrapping up a “peace agreement” for her boss so he has a “legacy” to shroud himself in. We all know he needs SOMETHING to clothe himself in other than the death shroud he has chosen so proudly to wear thus far (ps, what a lovely, albeit schizophrenic ,couple the ying and yang-rice and bush-make!)
In the opening of her remarks, condi is asked the following:
QUESTION: Can you respond to the — Israel’s announcement yesterday, I believe, of a new 1,300 home settlement in East Jerusalem, and how you expect to be able to, you know, talk to both sides about this since that’s precisely the thing that the Palestinians regard as the greatest obstacle?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it will certainly be a topic of conversation and I expect to raise it with all of Israel’s officials and leaders. And we’ve said before that this is a time to try and build confidence, and this is simply not helpful to building confidence. And so we’ll have a further discussion of it, but I intend to have a discussion of Roadmap obligations generally, and this is obviously a Roadmap obligation that’s not being met.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you are not annoyed that every time you go there, there is a new announcement of settlements, either just before you come or just after you leave?
SECRETARY RICE: Unfortunately, there have been a few whether I’m coming or not. I think that – look, it’s a problem. And I think it’s a problem that we’re – that I’m going to address with the Israelis. And it’s also – as the President said today, it’s also every reason – or it gives us every reason that we really ought to be determining the boundaries of the state, because what’s in Israel will be in Israel at that point, and what’s in Palestine will be in Palestine. And that’s the best way to resolve this, but you know, I repeat, we’ve talked a great deal about the importance of Roadmap obligations, and this one isn’t being met.
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THIS week, the UN Security Council will be addressing the following:
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to discuss a draft resolution next week demanding that Israel halt all construction in West Bank settlements.
Representatives of the UN’s Arab bloc met Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York for a final discussion of the draft and made last-minute revisions in preparation for its submission to the Security Council.
UN sources told Haaretz that the draft is the first that addresses the settlement issue in “a sweeping, unequivocal and direct manner.” According to the sources, the driving force behind the resolution is Saudi Arabia, although officially, it was an initiative of the Arab League.
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Diplomats affiliated with the Arab bloc said that Arab representatives at the UN have been discussing the new resolution for several weeks, during which time the draft has undergone several revisions.
The decision to formally submit the draft next week, the diplomats said, was made in response to Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim’s announcement that tenders had been issued for the construction of 120 housing units in Har Homa and 700 units in Pisgat Ze’ev. Both Har Homa and Pisgat Ze’ev are neighborhoods of East Jerusalem………….
LAST paragraph:
If the resolution is put to a vote, most Security Council members are expected to vote in favor of it. However, the United States’ position on the issue is not yet clear. Although the American administration has consistently opposed Israeli construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the U.S. nonetheless generally vetoes Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, viewing them as unhelpful interference in the peace process.
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Let the MASQUERADE BEGIN
desertpeace said,
June 15, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Robin, the ‘masquerade’ as you call it started 60 years ago when the State of Israel was ‘established’ by that very same United Nations.
NOTHING…. absolutely NOTHING was ever done in any way to ‘punish’ Israel for ignoring every sanction and resolution passed by the United Nations…
It’s obvious that nothing will be done by that body at this point either.
As I say in the post, it’s up to the American people…. no one else! It is they that have to elect a government that AIPAC cannot control… only then will Palestine become a Free Nation… not a minute sooner.
Robin said,
June 15, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Precisely Steve, it IS up to the American people. Continually we elect officials who bow to Israel, they are EXPECTED to bow to Israel. If even a PEEP is spoken by a candidate to the contrary it becomes a flash point to their “electability” Prior to this upcoming election it was more easily hidden from the general public because it was local senators and representatives who received the brunt of AIPAC and company smears. THIS election cycle it has come to a full-blown head with Barak HUSSEIN Obama, the man who the day after he cinched the nomination presented the most hawkish speech at AIPAC calling for an undivided Jerusalem. This candidate chose to follow the “rules” and put a cherry on top to boot with this remark.
Yes Israel has defied every UN resolution passed against it, but the fact remains, it is the US who has blocked over 90 OTHER resolutions as well as maintained the occupation with it’s full-blown economic support. The US has shown it’s consistent support for the zionist entity in EVERY arena. Now, just in the real time of this week we see rice supposedly in a tither over the newly announced settlements AND a resolution which will be introduced to the UN Security Council where the US has the choice to vote in continuity to said concerns of the esteemed madam secretary, or once again play the roll of court jester.
I URGE every single person reading here to contact the White House, the State Department, your congressional representatives and tell them, the US must NOT block this resolution. Why? Because whether or not Israel violates all resolutions against it it is BECAUSE of the US sending wink winks. For ONCE it is time the US stands up to this rogue nation and stop protecting it. Rice is saying Israel is making the US job of bringing a “peace accord” to fruition (which is a joke to begin with)more difficult, but at LEAST open your eyes and not WINK again! For God’s sake, is it too much to ask for our government to at least act in accordance with it’s OWN supposed policy concerning settlement expansion?
The US Mission to the UN needs to send a CLEAR message to Israel, STOP SETTLEMENT EXPANSION NOW.
Americans make your voices LOUD.