Word: bankes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Several tougher questions by the King involved the nature of sovereignty for the West Bank and Gaza, the future status of Israeli settlements and security forces in these areas, and the fate of predominantly Arab East Jerusalem. Washington's answers reiterate familiar positions, but it is easy to see why the U.S. phrasing irritated the Israelis...
...East Jerusalem, for example, Washington informed Hussein: "We believe a distinction must be made between Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank because of the city's special status and circumstances. We envisage a negotiated solution for the final status of Jerusalem that could be different in character in some respects from that of the West Bank. The final status of Jerusalem should not be prejudged by the unilateral actions undertaken in Jerusalem since the 1967 war." In answer to another question, the U.S. said that any solution "should preserve Jerusalem as a physically undivided city" and provide...
Hussein asked about the future status of Israeli troops and of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Concerning the troops, "the U.S. Would not oppose, if agreed to by the parties, the stationing in the West Bank and Gaza of limited numbers of Israeli security personnel in specifically defined areas and with a defined role as one element in providing for the security of Israel...
...status of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories was "a matter for discussion in negotiations on the final status of the West Bank and Gaza." Hussein was also informed that "it is the position of the U.S. that Israel should refrain from creating new settlements on the West Bank while negotiations are under way on establishing the self-governing authority." The U.S. position is based on the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which forbids the establishment of civilian communities in territory that is militarily occupied. Washington and Jerusalem have hotly argued the interpretation of the convention in the past...
...anything, the Israelis were even more agitated by Washington's answers to Hussein's questions about which Palestinians could participate in future talks about the West Bank and what the U.S. meant by inviting "representatives" of the Palestinian people. The answers diplomatically avoided "comprehensive definition," but Washington did indicate that these "representatives" could come from outside the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan, and that they "need not be citizens of Egypt or Jordan." Moreover, the U.S. believes that a political solution for the occupied territories must also recognize the "legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and their just...