PLO accuses US of 'forcing' Arab foreign ministers not to visit
The Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr visited '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen in the Mukhata in Ramallah on Saturday. But the big news is who wasn't there. Four other Arab foreign ministers allegedly canceled their trips at the last minute, and the PLO is claiming that it was
due to pressure by the United States.
PLO executive member Wasel Abu Yusef told reporters that the US
Administration was behind the cancellation of the four Arab ministers'
visit to the West Bank.
"The Americans prevented the Arab foreign ministers from visiting Ramallah," Abu Yusef charged.
Some
of the ministers who called off their visit claimed that they did not
want to pass through IDF checkpoints on their way to Ramallah.
But
Elaraby and the Egyptian foreign minister arrived in Ramallah aboard a
Jordanian helicopter, which landed in the Mukata presidential compound.
Abu
Yusef and other Palestinian officials also accused the US of exerting
pressure on the Arab countries not to provide the Palestinians with
financial aid.
"The US and Israel are imposing an economic
blockade on the Palestinian State and are preventing the Arab countries
and Western donors from providing Palestinians with financial aid," he
added.
"Unfortunately, these countries have succumbed to the
pressure, further intensifying the financial crisis in the Palestinian
Authority."
If only this were true.... Can you see Hussein Obama doing anything to punish the poor 'Palestinians'?
Meanwhile, at the meeting, Abu Mazen complained that the Arab League has not been putting up its $100 million per month to pay the
terrorists' salaries. Someone ought to tell him to stop schnorring and go develop an economy.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Arab League, compensation for terrorists, Nabil Elaraby
Three words: Target rich environment
Three words on this one:
Target rich environment.
Will Hamas attack Israel while the Arab League delegation visits? Of course they will. Will Israel hold its fire? Unfortunately, short of a direct hit with a lot of dead and injured, probably yes. And that's why visits like this one will continue to take place: Because everyone knows that they're essentially risk-free.
I just hope they let 'Palestinian' foreign minister Riyad Malki in.
By the way, when was the last Arab League delegation to Syria?
Labels: Arab League, Gaza, Hamas, Nabil Elaraby, Operation Pillar of Defense, Riyad al-Malki
Netanyahu calls Abu Mazen's bluff?
Prime Minister Netanyahu accepted the Middle East Quartet's proposal for
unconditional talks. The 'Palestinians' have responded by demanding that Israel suspend building in 'settlements' and accept the '1967 borders' before returning to the negotiating table.
"Israel welcomes the Quartet's call for direct negotiations without pre-conditions with the Palestinian Authority, which was already suggested by US president Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, even though Israel has a number of reservations which it will bring up in the negotiations."
...
Netanyahu has in the past objected to the idea – as presented in the Quartet proposal – of isolating security and territories from the other core issues of Jerusalem and refugees, saying that if an agreement on the territorial issue was reached, the Palestinians would have no incentive to compromise later on the issues of refugees and Jerusalem. Rather, his position in the past was that all issues should be discussed simultaneously.
Over the weekend, the 'Palestinians' already indicated that
they would not answer the quartet's call.
Over the weekend, the Palestinians expressed opposition to the Quartet's "vague statement" and stressed they will not accept lengthy negotiations. Fatah official Nabil Shaath said: "The international community must take harsh and clear steps to point out the terms of negotiations and take harsh steps against those who violate them; but we, the Palestinians, are the only ones being punished when we break the terms. "
And on Sunday the 'Palestinians'
made it official.
The Palestinian Authority will return to the negotiating table with Israel only if it stops building in the settlements and accepts the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Sunday.
In response to Israel's acceptance of the most recent Quartet proposal for resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Abu Rudaineh said: "If Israel is serious, it must abide, without reservations, by international legitimacy as mentioned in the Road Map, UN resolutions and the Arab peace initiative."
Although the PA last week said that proposal contained "encouraging elements," a top PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the plan was biased in favor of Israel. The official said that the timing of the publication of the proposal was "suspicious" because it coincided with Abbas's request for membership in the UN.
"The Quartet has lost its credibility, mainly because of its failure to force Israel to stop building in the settlements," the official told the Post.
The official also condemned Quartet envoy Tony Blair as a "servant of the Israeli government" and hinted that the former British prime minister was "no longer welcome in Ramallah. We prefer not to see him here again."
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat also announced that the PA would not return to the peace talks without the two pre-conditions - cessation of settlement construction and acceptance of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution.
Erekat told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elarabi that when the PA talks about a settlement freeze, it is also referring to natural growth in these communities and the construction of new housing projects in east Jerusalem.
Erekat said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's response to the Quartet proposal has been "1,100 No's" by approving tenders for building 1,000 housing units in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood last week.
Noting that the Quartet proposal talks about freezing settlement construction [as part of the Road Map], Erekat criticized the Americans and Europeans for "only condemning" Israel's actions.
Still waiting for the Democrats to criticize the 'Palestinians' for defying Obama....
But we should all point out that Netanyahu has abided by Obama's wishes and that he should now smell clean as a rose on Pennsylvania Avenue.... What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Middle East quartet, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, Nabil Elaraby, Saeb Erekat
Arab League kicks sand in Obama's face
They're lining up to kick sand in the face of the President of the United States tonight. The Arab League is next. They're unhappy that certain American officials aren't
speaking nicely to Syria.
In response to statements by U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has lost his legitimacy, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi said that he opposes verbal attacks on Syrian leaders.
Al-Arabi added that no one has a right to determine that the president of any country has lost his legitimacy, except for the people who elected him.
After meeting with Al-Assad, Al-Arabi said that there is no pressure on the Arab League to make a decision on Syria similar to the one made on Libya.
This guy is an embarrassment to the United States. Where are the Marines? Oh yeah, i forgot. They have
orders not to shoot.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Arab League, Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, Nabil Elaraby, US ambassador to Syria
Change: Egypt urges Obama to back Fatah-Hamas 'state' and to 'persuade' Israel to do the same
My, my how things have changed with our southern neighbor.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby has called on the United States to accept the combined unilateral declaration of 'statehood' by
Hamas and Fatah acting as the 'Palestinian Authority' and to 'persuade' Israel to do the same (Hat Tip:
Lance K).
The statement marks yet another big shift in Egypt's foreign policy.
The new call marks a move away from Egypt's past compliance with the United States and Israel, which have strongly opposed the Palestinian authority's campaign to win backing for a unilateral declaration of statehood.
Mr Araby says Egypt now fully supports the Palestinian plan, and has urged the US to do the same.
He said the US should view a re-united Palestinian movement, including Hamas, as a positive development, and that it should persuade Israel to negotiate with it.
Both Israel and the US have insisted they will not deal with any side that includes Hamas, which they regard as a terrorist group.
Under President Hosni Mubarak Egypt used to take the same view, but the new government has moved quickly to distance itself from Israel, helping broker the Palestinian reconciliation deal last week.
The article goes on to speculate that Congress might be influenced to reduce Egypt's foreign aid as a result of statements like this one. I hope that someone in Congress is listening.
Labels: Egyptian regime change, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Nabil Elaraby, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, unilateral declaration of statehood, US foreign aid
Does Israel need to worry about Nabil Elaraby?
Does Israel need to worry about new Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby?
This article thinks Israel's worries about Elaraby should not be too great.
Labels: Egyptian regime change, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Nabil Elaraby
Egypt to demand extra retroactive payments for natural gas sold to Israel?
One of the reasons that Egypt is so anxious to dissolve its natural gas deal with Israel is that under the terms of the agreement between the two countries, Israel gets to purchase natural gas at below-market prices. This is a result of the fact that the Egyptian natural gas comes from areas that were ceded by Israel to Egypt under the peace treaty between the two countries.
Now, Egypt's new foreign minister, Nabil Elaraby, wants to demand that Israel
pay the difference between the sale price and the market price for all gas purchased until now, claiming that the Camp David accords did not entitle Israel to such a sweetheart deal.
According to the minister, clause No. 8 in the Israel-Egypt peace agreement allows the parties to appoint a joint committee to discuss settling financial disputes, "and we will demand from Israel the price differences of the gas exported to Israel during the previous regime."
Al-Arabi noted that the Camp David Accords do not include a clause on selling gas and oil to Israel for a reduced price, and that those who interpreted it that way were "wrong" or "wanted to interpret it that way".
Al-Arabi, who is considered hostile towards Israel, is the first official to raise the possibility that Egypt would demand that Israel pay for the gas retroactively. These comments contradict remarks made by the new oil minister, who said Egypt wanted to enter negotiations with Israel on the possibility of raising the gas prices from now on.
As my law school contracts professor used to say, "a deal's a deal, except under 2-302." (A clause of the Uniform Commercial Code that allowed one side to cancel a contract because it's unconscionable - in light of the resources that Israel gave to Egypt in return for a piece of paper, I would not call it unconscionable).
The odds of Israel paying that extra money are quite long. Especially in light of the fact that we will have our own natural gas supply online by 2013, I would bet on some stalling tactics (making like we'll pay and then not paying) followed by a break when our own natural gas comes online.
Labels: Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Hosni Mubarak, Nabil Elaraby, natural gas
Great news: Egypt and Iran to resume diplomatic relations
Somehow you just knew this was coming: Iran and Egypt are
resuming diplomatic relations (Hat Tip:
IMRA).
Iran on Wednesday received well a recent proposal by Egypt's newly appointed Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi for the promotion of the bilateral ties between the two sides, and said it is ready to resume relations with Cairo.
"There have been many ups and downs in the two countries' relations and we hope that under the new conditions we will witness further expansion of relations between the two great nations," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.
He also underlined that there is no doubt that good ties between the two countries would help restore stability, security and development to the entire region.
Salehi said that the Egyptian people strived to materialize their justice seeking moves which was regarded as a new chapter in the country's history.
"We would like to once again congratulate them on the occasion," he concluded.
Al-Arabi in his first press conference on Tuesday announced Cairo's preparedness to open "a new page with Iran".
Hey Barack, how's that change working out? Aren't you glad you got rid of Mubarak?
Labels: Barack Obama, Egyptian regime change, Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nabil Elaraby
Egypt has a new foreign minister
Egypt has a new foreign minister,
Nabil Elaraby.
Nabil Elaraby ( or El Araby) , a former judge in the International Court of Justice, accepted the post of Egypt’s foreign minister on Sunday, the state news agency said.
Judge Elaraby holds a J.S.D. (1971) and an LL.M. (1969) from New York University School of Law and a License en Droit, Faculty of Law, from Cairo University (1955).
Elaraby, who was also the permanent representative to the United Nations and has been serving as the director of the Regional Cairo Center for International Commercial Arbitration, replaces Ahmed Aboul Gheit who was minister since 2004.
He was Member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations 1994-2004, Judge at the Judicial Tribunal of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1990 and Commissioner at the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva (1999–2001).
Elaraby, a partner at Zaki Hashem & Partners in Cairo, since 2008 has also been serving as a counsel of the Sudanese government in the “Abyei Boundary” Arbitration between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Revolutionary Movement.
This is nothing about which Israelis should get excited. Elaraby is
quite hostile to us.
Before his tenure as judge, Elaraby urged Arab nations to sue Israel for atrocities committed against the Palestinians including genocide, Ynet News reports. Two months after telling an Egyptian newspaper, "I personally support an Arab Muslim claim against Israeli crimes," Elaraby was appointed as a judge at the ICJ.
Elaraby was part of a team that negotiated the Camp David peace treaty with Israel in 1978 and therefore can be expected to abide by Egypt's existing commitments to Israel, but he is likely to take a harder approach concerning Israel's activities in the occupied territories, the Washington Post reports.
"Public opinion in Egypt is in favor of a less soft approach to Israel and I think he shares this feeling," Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University, told the Washington Post. "It will be very difficult for him to make the kind of concessions Hosni Mubarak made to Israel," like when Egypt closed its border with Gaza during the 2009 Gaza war.
The professor said that Elaraby is also likely to improve Egypt's relations with Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah. This would stand in contrast to Mubarak's Egypt, which could be depended upon as a reliable ally of the United States in the region.
While Elaraby was a judge at the International Court of Justice, Israel attempted to have him
removed from the panel that heard the case against Israel's 'security fence.'
In 2004, Israel sought the removal of Nabil Elaraby from an ICJ tribunal that debated the legality of Israel's West Bank security barrier, citing his earlier job as legal adviser to the Egyptian government. Israel's request was denied.
As a government legal adviser, Elaraby sat across from the Israelis at the negotiating table on several occasions, dating back to the successful Camp David agreements in 1978 that led to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
He was elected to the 15-member world court in October 2001 for a nine-year term.
Israel complained to the court, however, that he instigated anti-Israeli measures at the UN General Assembly while serving as an Egyptian ambassador to the UN.
There's nothing for Israel to worry about from the 'new,' 'democratic' Egypt, is there?
Labels: Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egyptian regime change, Nabil Elaraby
