Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned in comments published yesterday that if Israel does not negotiate on its plan to withdraw from parts of the West Bank by 2010, the move will lead to another war in a decade.
In an interview with the Guardian, Abbas said that Israeli prime minister-designate Ehud Olmert's plan to set down Israel's final borders along the route of the separation barrier would lead to more bloodshed.
struggle
Such Israeli action might delay "the struggle," but not end the conflict, Abbas said.
"Okay, they can postpone it for 10 years," Abbas told the daily. "After 10 years our sons will feel it is unfair and they will return back to struggle."
"In the West Bank they will demarcate the borders and say: `This is your state,'" Abbas said. "And they want our state within the wall without negotiations ... Nobody will accept it. The struggle will continue."
Olmert won last month's elections on a platform to attempt to negotiate with the Palestinians on his plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank, which the Palestinians want to include in a future state.
Even if an agreement with the Palestinians is not reached, Israel will set down its borders, according to the plan.
tough time
Olmert is expected to have a tough time starting peace talks with the Palestinians since the radical Islamic party Hamas rose to power.
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks, refuses to answer Israel's demands that it recognize the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept peace agreements.
A senior Hamas official said on Friday that the group is ready to accept a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, which would imply recognition of Israel, without requiring Hamas to state this formally.
However, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he was not aware of a two-state proposal.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
‘TRUMP’S LONG GAME’: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that while fraud was a serious issue, the US president was politicizing it to defund programs for Minnesotans US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday said it was auditing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somalian origin to detect fraud that could lead to denaturalization, or revocation of citizenship, while also announcing a freeze of childcare funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some daycare centers. “Under US law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Denaturalization cases are rare and can take years. About 11 cases were pursued per year between 1990 and 2017, the Immigrant Legal Resource
ANGER: US-based activists reported protests at 174 locations across the country, with at least 582 arrested and 15 killed, while Khamenei said the protesters were ‘paid’ Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday said that “rioters must be put in their place” after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic, likely giving security forces a green light to aggressively put down the demonstrations. The first comments by 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei come as violence surrounding the demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy has killed at least 15 people, according to human rights activists. The protests show no sign of stopping and follow US President Donald Trump warning Iran on Friday that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the US “will come to their rescue.” While it remains
RSS