Sorting by

×
ePalestine.ps - Sam Bahour

SUBSCRIBE | DONATE | CONTACT

News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine

Financial Times: West Bank policy ‘not aiding peace’

by | September 2, 2007 | Latest News

West Bank policy ‘not aiding peace’ 

Financial Times

31 August 2007 

By SHARMILA DEVI 

Israeli infrastructure that divides the West Bank and confines 2.5m Palestinians to enclaves does not provide a basis for a two-state solution to the conflict, said a United Nations report yesterday. 

The critical report*  from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs comes as diplomatic efforts are expected to pick up pace amid what Michael Williams, the UN’s outgoing Middle East co-ordinator, calls "signs of hope". 

Mr Williams also pointed to the Jewish settlements in his final briefing to the UN Security Council on Wednesday before taking up his post as envoy for Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister. "Settlement activity undermines hope for a contiguous Palestinian state," he said. 

Almost 40 per cent of the West Bank is off-limits to Palestinians because of Israeli settlements, military infrastructure and a system of roads designed to ease access for Jewish settlers, justified by Israel as protection from terrorism. 

The report says: "These measures are also intimately linked to maintaining settler access and their quality of life." 

Israel took the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967. Settlements are deemed illegal under international law, but about 450,000 Jewish settlers now live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Settlers left Gaza in 2005. 

The West Bank closely resembles Israeli proposals first made after the 1967 war in terms of infrastructure and territory for Palestinians. Restrictions have tightened since the intifada uprising began in 2000 via the enclave system and the building of a barrier. 

A US-sponsored Middle East conference is due to be held in November, although little has been decided yet. 

Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, came to power promising pull-outs from the West Bank but was left badly weakened by last year’s Lebanon war. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, lost control in Gaza when the Islamic movement Hamas seized power inJune. 

Nonetheless, Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, and Tony Blair, the new international Middle East envoy, are due in the region next month to nudge both sides towards progress. 

Observers say MrWilliams, as British envoy, may have more leeway to push for a peace dealthan Mr Blair, who would have to take his lead from the US. 

* www.ochaopt.org  

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd23e1d4-5759-11dc-9a3a-0000779fd2ac.html

———————————————————————–

Everything about this list:

http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/epalestine

To unsubscribe, send mail to:

epalestine-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net

To subscribe, send mail to:

epalestine-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

 

Author

  • Sam Bahour

    Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM), a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.

    Bahour played a foundational role in establishing two of Palestine’s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS).

    He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine’s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.

    A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.

    Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled “The Tallest Man in Ramallah.” He holds an Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA — a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.

    He tweets at @SamBahour, blogs at www.epalestine.ps, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.

    View all posts

Share This Page


By Topic


Tagged with:

Explore the site in BY TOPIC, A-Z.