Israel Olmert 2012

Olmert: Right-wing Americans thwarted Israeli-Palestinian peace accord

WALSH: Myth of a two-state solution [4 Updates] Olmert: Right-wing Americans thwarted Israeli-Palestinian peace accord .

 Ehud Olmert: Right-wing Americans thwarted Israeli-Palestinian peace accord In interview with CNN, former Prime Minister says time for a two-state solution is running out. By Haaretz. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells CNN that right-wing extremists from the United States toppled his government with “millions and millions of dollars” in order to thwart his attempt to reach a lasting peace agreement with the Palestinians. . In the interview Olmert gave CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that aired on Friday, Olmert said that his peace plan was supported by a majority of Israelis and that it could have been, and still can be, implemented were it not for “superior powers” in the U.S. which he would not name. . Olmert told Amanpour that he was working toward a peace agreement in 2008, knowing that this would mean handing over East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. “But I had to fight against superior powers, including millions and millions of dollars that were transferred from this country (the U.S.) by figures which were from the extreme right wing, that were aimed to topple me as Prime Minister of Israel. There is no question it.” . Amanpour asked Olmert if there is still time for a two-state solution “There is time,” Olmert answered, “but time is running out.” . Olmert acknowledged that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas never said yes to his 2008 proposal, but also insists that “he never said no.” . “So why not reintroduce this plan again,” asked Olmert, “and present the challenge to the Palestinians?” . Olmert criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dealings with the Palestinians, saying, “The fact is that we don’t negotiate with the Palestinians, and the fact is that we have not proposed anything.” . When asked if Netanyahu will seek such a peace, Olmert said, “I certainly pray that he will,” adding “I doubt that he will.” . "Peace is important for Israel,” insisted Olmert. “We want peace. We need peace. We want to separate from the Palestinians. We don’t want to control the life of the Palestinians. We want them to have their own separate state.”

The first part of the former prime minister's CNN interview http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ehud-olmert-u-s-not-israel-should-lead-possible-strike-on-iran-1.427487 was released on Monday, in which he said Israel could take part in a possible military strike on Iran, but should not lead it. .


Paul Woodward - http://warincontext.org/2012/05/05/olmert-right-wing-americans-killed-mideast-peace-plan/ . 

WALSH: Myth of a two-state solution . http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/congressman-endorses-apartheid-ethnic-cleansing-for-palestinians/256775/ Congressman Endorses Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing for Palestinians By Robert Wright . In a Washington Times op-ed, Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party Republican from Illinois, unveils http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/3/myth-of-a-two-state-solution/ his new plan for solving the Israel-Palestine problem: . 1) Make the occupied territories part of Israel; . 2) Give Palestinians who live in those territories "limited voting power" in the new, bigger Israel that they'll have suddenly become residents of. (Walsh doesn't define his euphemism, but no doubt the idea is that Jews get one-person-one-vote and Palestinians get something less, so that Israel can remain a Jewish state.) . 3) Palestinians who don't like having "limited voting power" can move to Jordan. There are, of course, people who say that Israel already practices apartheid. Their argument: Israel has ruled West Bank Palestinians for 45 years, shows no signs of ending the occupation (and indeed keeps expanding the settler population), and doesn't let these Palestinians vote in Israeli elections even though Jewish settlers in the West Bank do get to vote. The counter-argument is that, since the West Bank isn't part of Israel, the policies that prevail there can't make Israel an apartheid state. 

Joe Walsh's plan would end the argument once and for all, making apartheid official Israeli policy. . As for whether this plan would also constitute ethnic cleansing: Well, when you . (1) tell members of an ethnic group that the land they live on is being given to another nation; (2) tell them that neither they nor their descendants will be allowed to vote in that nation's elections, even though next-door neighbors of a different ethnicity can; (3) tell them that the only way to avoid this fate is to go to another country--yeah, I'd call that ethnic cleansing, at least of a "soft" variety. (The harder variety, involving physical intimidation, is already practiced by the more extreme settlers--with little success thus far, though it could no doubt work in powerful synergy with Walsh's subtler approach.) . 

Offhand, I don't recall a member of Congress in my lifetime saying anything so grotesquely at odds with American ideals about ethnic relations and for that matter basic human rights. Will the Anti-Defamation League denounce Walsh? Will the American Jewish Congress? Will AIPAC have anything to say about the congressman whose strongly pro-Israel views its newsletter approvingly highlighted . ? If not, why not? .. This article available online at: . . http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/congressman-endorses-apartheid-ethnic-cleansing-for-palestinians/256775/ . .