Hamas: Netanyahu's Egypt visit an attempt to whitewash Gaza crimes

Date: 11 / 05 / 2009  Time:  15:25
Gaza – Ma’an –

Hamas criticized the Israeli occupation government prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Egypt on Monday as a dangerous attempt to whitewash Israel’s international image after the war on Gaza.

Netanyahu’s meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm Al-Shaikh is his first foreign visit in his present term as prime minister.

Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement, “What is requested from Egypt is not to accept the Israeli policies and to be serious in calling on the Israeli side to lift the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza, and insist on a prisoner exchange.”

“Egypt has to make all efforts to ensure that Palestinians will receive all their rights. Netanyahu shouldn’t be given any chance to impose his policy and beautify the Israeli face in front of the Arab world to cover for Israel’s crimes,” he said.

Barhoum: Netanyahu's visit targets creating serious axis in the region

 [ 11/05/2009 - 04:15 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Hamas on Monday said that the visit of the Israeli occupation government premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Egypt aims at creating a "serious" axes politics in the region and to beautify the image of Israeli occupation especially after the war on Gaza that gained world support for the Palestine cause.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in a press release said that the visit seeks to employ the Arab dimension to endorse the Israeli occupation's policies.

Egypt is called upon not to join such policies and to adopt clear and strong stands on the Israeli premier especially regarding the Palestinian issue such as siege, aggression, prisoners' swap deal and the Palestinian people's rights, he elaborated.

The spokesman said that Netanyahu should not be allowed to use the Arab gate to serve his own interests and agenda or to cover up for his crimes.

In Egypt, Netanyahu says he wants new peace talks

Date: 11 / 05 / 2009  Time:  18:16
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

 The Israeli occupation government prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Monday that he hopes to begin peace negotiations with Palestinians within a few weeks.

The Palestinian Authority withdrew from talks following Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which ended in mid-January and killed nearly 1,500 Palestinians.

"We would like as soon as possible to renew the peace talks between us and the Palestinians," Netanyahu said following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the country's resort city of Sharm Al-Shaikh.

"I hope that they will be renewed in the next few weeks," he added. "We would like Israel and the Palestinians to live with prospects of peace, security and prosperity. The three things go together and not one at the expense of the other," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli president has thus far not committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly called for in recent weeks.

President Mubarak on Monday said he told Netanyahu that "I demanded positive action on a two-state solution, leading the way to a comprehensive peace according to Arab Peace Initiative," which offers Israel full recognition by all Arab nations in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the occupied territories.

"I mentioned the importance of resuming peace talks with the Palestinians from where they stopped before, leading to the creation of a Palestinian state," he said. "[Netanyahu] has preferred to speak about economic peace, something that all Palestinian factions, including Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, have rejected."

US to push for a new comprehensive peace plan that includes all Arab countries

Monday May 11, 2009 11:38 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Times of London Newspaper reported Monday that King Abdullah of Jordan stated that the United States is planning to present an Arab-American Peace plan that offers a solution in which 57 countries in the Arab and Muslim world would recognize Israel in exchange for a comprehensive peace.

The king added that this plan is “a 57-state solution, in which the entire Muslim and Arab Worlds offers a full recognition of Israel”, Reuters reported.

“If we chose delay peace talks, there would be another conflict between the Arabs and Israel in the coming 12 or 18 months”, King Abdullah said.

Furthermore, the Times of London said that King Abdullah prepared the plan with the US president Barrack Obama in April, and that other details would be formulated during diplomatic talks this month, including meeting which is scheduled to take place between Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Obama next week in Washington.

“What we are talking about here, is not just Palestinians and Israelis sitting on the negotiations table, or Israelis and Syrians, or Israelis and Lebanese, we are offering a comprehensive peace”, king Abdullah said.

The paper added that should the May 18 Obama-Netanyahu meeting bare fruit, a peace initiative could be the cure issue of a statement Obama would be making when he addresses the Arab and Muslim worlds from Cairo on June 4.

King Abdullah said that “the determining factor would be the outcome of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting.

“If Israel starts delaying peace talks on a two-state solution, or if there is no clear American vision on how this could be implemented in 2009, then the worldwide credibility of Obama would vanish overnight”, King Abdullah said, “A viable decision should be made in May”.  

The London Times also said that Arab countries would allow Israeli airlines such as El Al, to use Arab airspace, and Israelis would be granted Visas to visit the Arab Countries, as an incentive to Israel to stop the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

It is worth mentioning that while the Obama administration approves and supports a two-state solution, the Israeli government, headed by Netanyahu, still rejects the idea.

Netanyahu did not yet offer a clear stance on the future of the peace talks, and his extreme right-wing broad coalition government opposes any talks on core issues, such as borders, Jerusalem and the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees.