|
Blair Should Solve Palestinian Problem - Gulf Paper
DUBAI, Nov 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - On the 84th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which gave Jews the right of a national home in Palestine, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair should show a commitment to resolving the Palestinian problem that his country created nearly a century ago, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper said Friday.
An editorial in the Dubai-based Gulf News said Friday that the British government should "play an active role in resolving the problem it created."
"What Blair should [demonstrate] is ... an honest commitment to solving the root of the Palestinian problem, just as the British government [did] when it gave its full support and commitment to creating a Jewish state," the English-language newspaper said.
On November 2, 1917, then British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote Jewish politician Lord Rothschild a letter promising a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The letter was aimed at garnering Jewish support for the Allies in World War I and later became the basis for international support for the founding of the modern state of Israel.
Balfour said the government viewed "with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object."
Blair visited Israel and the Gaza Strip on the eve of the declaration's anniversary to discuss the escalation of violence in the region. The British leader "renewed his call for the creation of a Palestinian state," the UAE paper said in its editorial.
The Prime Minister returned to London Friday after an ambitious mission to the Middle East that sought to reduce tensions, but mainly to bolster support for the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan.
Blair insisted throughout his trip, which began in Syria Tuesday and took in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the Gaza Strip, that a period of calm and a halt to the cycle of violence between Arabs and Israelis was vital.
The British daily newspaper, The Independent, described Blair's diplomatic sweep through the Middle East as "difficult" as the British premier ran into more blunt talking from uncompromising hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Blair's visit took on additional importance because of Britain's standing in the U.S.-led coalition against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Blair was seen as an emissary of U.S. President George W. Bush, whose administration is trying to cool down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, seen as an obstacle to their war on Afghanistan.
After finishing his hectic tour, the British leader indicated that there was now a chance of advancing the peace process.
Despite the British premier's call on Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks as he ended his trip to the Middle East on Thursday, Israel's military campaign against Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank continued.
In yet another assassination, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car near the Palestinian city of Nablus, killing two Palestinians. The Israeli army claimed they were about to carry out a suicide bomb attack.
Shortly before Blair arrived in Jerusalem, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a taxi in the West Bank, killing at least one Palestinian,
The Independent reported.
In the missile strike, five U.S.-made Israeli Apache helicopters were seen hovering in the air southeast of the West Bank city of Tulkarem before they shot missiles at the cab carrying Palestinians, said Tulkarem governor Izzedine al-Sharif.
At least one person was killed in the attack, al-Sharif said, while Israeli radio reported that two Palestinians had been killed in the strike.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat charged that the Israeli operations were a crime and endangered peace efforts.
Israeli forces have arrested at least 1,400 Palestinians during the past 13 months since the start of the Palestinian al-Aqsa Intifada, said Ranaan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon.
According to Western figures, 738 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Intifada, the majority children and teenagers, and 191 have been killed on the Israeli side.
"This cycle of bloodshed has to stop," said Blair at a news conference following a meeting with Sharon in Jerusalem.
But Sharon defended the Israeli policy of assassinating Palestinian leaders, saying it was the only means to stop the violence and get the peace process back on track.
Sharon announced that he and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres would lead Israel's negotiating team when talks resume. However, Sharon banned Peres from holding a formal meeting with Arafat when both attend a weekend economic conference in Spain. Sharon insists that there can be no peace talks until all violence stops.
Meanwhile, Peres said in an interview published on Friday by the Ma'ariv newspaper that Israel should evacuate some Jewish settlements and conduct peace talks with the Palestinians even as violence rages, news agencies reported.
Peres's remarks contrast sharply with the views of his coalition government partner, Sharon.
"Yes, and I would not be doing the Palestinians a favor," said Peres. "There are several settlements which are drawing fire and have no future." He did not specify which Gaza settlements should be evacuated.
"Sharon thinks every settlement is important. I think the map of settlements makes things difficult for Israel and prevents it from drawing a map of security and peace," Peres said.
The Jewish settlements were built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War. They are regarded as illegal under international law. Palestinians have often targeted them in their uprising aimed at establishing an independent state.
|
