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    September 26, 2011

UN Security Council to Discuss Palestinian Bid

   VOA News

   The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss the Palestinian bid for
   statehood Monday, as Israeli leaders continue to call for a return to
   peace talks.
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for full
   recognition of a Palestinian state Friday, and received a hero's
   welcome Sunday as he returned to the West Bank.
   He told thousands of supporters in Ramallah they are part of a
   "Palestinian Spring," and that he would resume peace talks only if
   Israel stopped building settlements in occupied territory.
   U.S.-mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled a
   year ago after an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement
   construction expired. Palestinians oppose construction on land they
   want as part of a future state.
   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the U.N. bid is
   wrong and should not succeed because Palestinians want a state without
   first committing to security guarantees for Israel. He repeated his
   call for the Palestinians to resume immediate peace talks without
   preconditions.
   A top Palestinian aide said Israel has placed unacceptable
   preconditions on peace negotiations. Hanan Ashrawi said Israel "wants
   to annex Jerusalem" and "remove [Palestinian] refugees from the
   agenda." She said Israel "wants everything, and then says, 'Let's
   talk.'"
   The Middle East Quartet - the U.S., U.N., Europen Union and Russia -
   has called on Israelis and Palestinians to resume pace talks within a
   month and reach an agreement by next year.
   Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday he favors the
   Quartet plan and called on Palestinians not to look for excuses to stay
   away from the negotiating table.
   Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki has said the new initiative
   calling for the resumption of peace talks is not sufficient because it
   does not call for an Israeli settlement construction freeze. Malki said
   the Quartet's plan also fails to require an Israeli withdrawal to the
   borders in place before Israel took control of the Palestinian
   territories in 1967.
   U.S. President Barack Obama said recently that Washington would use its
   veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block any resolution
   recognizing the Palestinians. In his U.N. address, Obama said the only
   solution is direct talks between the two sides.
   Syrian state media say "armed terrorist groups" have killed five
   security personnel and wounded 17 others in an attack in southern
   Syria.
   The state-run SANA news agency said the attack Thursday was an ambush
   on a military convoy in Daraa province, about 100 kilometers south of
   the capital, Damascus.
   The uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in Daraa in March,
   after authorities arrested 15 teenagers suspected of writing
   anti-government graffiti.
   The United Nations says at least 2,700 people have been killed since
   then during a crackdown on dissent, including 100 children.
   Syrian security forces killed four people Wednesday in the central Homs
   region.
   Syria has blamed much of the violence on armed groups and "terrorists."
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References

   1. http://twitter.com/VOAMiddleEast
   2. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667?%20%20%20%20v=wall

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