NEWS: Palestinians accuse Israel of foot-dragging on peace

Israel has been accused of dragging its feet over promised confidence-building gestures today by The Palestinian Authority, after talks stalled and Israel have as of yet not pulled out of Jericho. Things were even more tense today when a Palestinian gunman was killed by Israeli troops, whilst Israel leaders believe Palestinian leaders have not done enough to stop attacks against them. Although on Tuesday Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had said Israel would hand over Jericho and Tulkarem to the Palestinian Authority "in the coming days", plans to do so have apparantly stalled.



It seems Israel are stalling because they believe Palestinian leaders are not living up to their end of the bargain, which was to do as much as possible to stop violence against Israelis in return for them pulling out.

This is of course a fair request, and one would hope Palestinian leaders are doing all they can. However, regardless of what they do it only takes on person on either side who doesn't want peace to come in with a heavy explosive and we're back to square one again. Let's hope those who hope to disrupt this agreement and cause more violence do not succeed.

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Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
(submission) (news) Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian in Raid

the whole region has been footdragging and shooting in the other foot for over 50 years, a few extra weeks should not be whined at

Allthough I can understand the concerns of Abbas that he has to show the average palestinian results, before too much momentum is lost and hamas start shooting again....


[edit on 10-3-2005 by Countermeasures]

Add this into the mix and you can see how this will be a long drawn out process

Palestinian Gunmen Challenge Abbas's Leadership

Both Abbas and Sharon are walking a fine line, trying to please each other and their respective peoples is not an easy task.

I believe that the US or the EU or the UN should step in and give a nudge to both sides. Both sides need encouraging and assurances. The cycle of violence has been a very, very long happening. Fear is both sides worst enemy.

The US, the EU, or the UN could offer economic or social incentives to help encourage both sides to keep the peace process moving, IMHO. I'm not sure that what I have mentioned is proper, but something of the kind should be used to persuade each to keep things moving.




seekerof

The palestinains refering to the israelis as dragging their feet when it comes to peace over there is either increibly ironic or absolutely comedic, I'm not really decided.