Word: palestinians
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Israelis sometimes lament that, as former Deputy Prime Minister Abba Eban once said, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. This time it may be the Israelis who are letting a precious opportunity pass: the West Bank Palestinian leaders President Mahmoud Abbas and, especially, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are the best partners for peace in Israel's history. Abbas and Fayyad have been astonishingly successful at fulfilling the road-map obligations to reform their security forces, resulting in a near cessation of violence in or from the West Bank. Indeed, the most notable occurrence in the past...
These accomplishments provide a foundation for what could be a new American approach. Last summer, Fayyad announced that - instead of waiting for political negotiations to reach a final agreement on a Palestinian state - he would simply work to build the institutions of such a state right away. His aim was to create conditions that within two years would convince the world, including the Israelis, that the entity should be granted statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a similar approach. He wants to provide both sides with security by building the Palestinian economy, and he has lifted some...
...Today, with the peace process on the brink of collapse, East Jerusalem is becoming the central political battleground pitting Israel against both the Palestinians and Western governments hoping to salvage a two-state solution. That much is visible at the City of David. Although billboards in the area portray white gleaming Jewish faces in ancient and modern times, the City of David sits in the center of a predominantly Arab neighborhood, Silwan. Many people originally worked on the site as laborers, but the 40,000 Arab residents of Silwan have grown to resent the City of David...
...continuing destruction of Arab homes, and the Israeli government's refusal to stop settlements in East Jerusalem, has sparked criticism from the U.N., the U.S. and the E.U., to the extent that this week E.U. foreign ministers are considering a Swedish proposal to recognize Palestinian claims on East Jerusalem as a future capital...
...paying enough attention to the ideological agenda of settler groups in Jerusalem, which has helped turn a difficult nationalistic conflict into an even more volatile religious conflict. In today's desperate atmosphere, any real or perceived damage done to the nearby Islamic holy places could help spark another Palestinian uprising. "In responsible hands, Jerusalem is a message of peace from Beirut to Baghdad," said Danny Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer who tracks East Jerusalem settlements. "But in irresponsible hands, it's a nuclear bomb that can send shock waves throughout the region...