Word: palestinians
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...ever felt compelled to pursue any political issues? -Ross Davenport, PERTH, AUSTRALIAI'm only strong as a storyteller. I'm not strong as a politician. Hopefully, with my journeys around the world, having visited the Pakistan earthquake zone, a girls' school in Afghanistan and some refugee camps in the Palestinian areas, then I'll be stronger as an actor at choosing the right kind of material...
...stony political landscape has changed, for the worse, since Rice made her last pilgrimage here five months ago. For one thing, the Islamist militants of Hamas now control the Gaza Strip, having chased away the armed forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - a man heartily championed by the White House, although less so by the Israelis, and openly despised by most Palestinians who see him as a puppet made to dance by the U.S. and the Israelis...
...certainly mark a diplomatic breakthrough. But the Saudis made clear that they will show up only if the summit is aimed at discussing the "core issues" that stand in the way of a settlement. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal described these issues as the creation of a functioning Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, withdrawal of Jewish settlements from the West Bank, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees...
...motions of complying with Washington. Politically, Olmert is too weak to be starting closing down the West Bank settlements that house around 250,000 Israelis. Also, Israelis doubt that Abbas, especially after his defeat in Gaza, can deliver on promises to curb attacks on Israel from inside the Palestinian territories. In response to U.S. prodding, Israel helped Abbas by releasing around $200 million in frozen tax revenues and setting free 250 Palestinian prisoners. But these concessions, as one Israeli intelligence official told TIME, "won't necessarily win Abbas any friends among the Palestinians, but they'll keep him from drowning...
...Abbas's team also expressed frustration at what they described as Rice's failure to nail down Israeli promises to lift roadblocks inside the Palestinian territories (so far, the Israeli military has refused) and halt illegal Jewish settlements. "Rice doesn't get into specifics," complained one Palestinian negotiator. "She's like a priest in church telling us what God likes or doesn't like...