CMEP Bulletin: Keeping Up the Pressure, Naksa Protests Continue, New Violence, and more. . .
Keeping up the Diplomatic Pressure
The spotlight in the past week has remained on whether negotiations can be started between Israelis and Palestinians this summer as a means of putting off a Palestinian resolution for statehood in the UN General Assembly this fall.
In response to the French proposal last week for an international conference on Israel-Palestine in Paris next month, Israel and the Palestinian Authority rushed their top negotiators to . . . Washington, DC. They may in fact have been convened by the U.S. State Department, concerned that the Europeans are seeking to take on a greater leadership role on this issue. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators reportedly did not meet with each other but met separately on Monday, June 6 at the White House and State Department.
On the one hand nothing much seems to have changed. The Palestinian Authority (PA) said, as it has before, that they could go to a conference with negotiations based on the 1967 lines and agreed land swaps, as President Barack Obama proposed last month. A Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with adjustments would necessarily preclude most of the West Bank from eventual Israeli settlement. The Israeli negotiators, however, said they could not agree. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there was no point in holding a conference unless the two sides were willing to negotiate, and she noted the unresolved problem of negotiating with a Palestinian government that includes representatives of Hamas.
President Obama warned in his speech last month that unilateral actions — such as the Palestinians seeking a vote on statehood at the UN General Assembly – should be avoided.
Click here to continue reading this CMEP Bulletin, including the following items:
- Avoiding a showdown?
- Calling on the President
- Obstacles to assistance
- Naksa Day protests
- Living in East Jerusalem
- Settler violence and home demolitions
- Gaza rocket