albion
10-19-2004, 12:24 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3748276.stm
'Security zone'
In the West Bank, establishing new "defensible borders" appears to mean Israel's territorial expansion, by consolidating large Jewish settlement blocks and incorporating them into Israel, aided by the building of a vast barrier that Israel says is meant to stop Palestinian attacks.
Many Palestinians have vowed revenge for Israeli raids
"The disengagement from the Gaza Strip along with the construction of the fence in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) will lead to a strategic achievement," said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz in a newspaper interview.
"The settlements in Judea and Samaria will determine borders," he said.
'Freezing' process
But for that to happen it's crucial Israel isn't blocked by any diplomatic process demanding adherence to international law, which requires a full Israeli withdrawal from all the Palestinian territory it occupied in the 1967 Mid-East War, or at least mutually agreeable borders negotiated with the Palestinians.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40183000/jpg/_40183770_militants_ap300body.jpghttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40183000/jpg/_40183768_tanks_ap300.jpg
[FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Many Palestinians have vowed revenge for Israeli raids[/SIZE][/FONT]
This some Israeli officials feel they have achieved, including Dov Wiesglass, a key advisor to the prime minister who essentially worked out the disengagement plan with the Americans.
"The significance (of the disengagement plan) is the freezing of the political process," he recently told Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper.
"And when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion about the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely."
'Security zone'
In the West Bank, establishing new "defensible borders" appears to mean Israel's territorial expansion, by consolidating large Jewish settlement blocks and incorporating them into Israel, aided by the building of a vast barrier that Israel says is meant to stop Palestinian attacks.
Many Palestinians have vowed revenge for Israeli raids
"The disengagement from the Gaza Strip along with the construction of the fence in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) will lead to a strategic achievement," said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz in a newspaper interview.
"The settlements in Judea and Samaria will determine borders," he said.
'Freezing' process
But for that to happen it's crucial Israel isn't blocked by any diplomatic process demanding adherence to international law, which requires a full Israeli withdrawal from all the Palestinian territory it occupied in the 1967 Mid-East War, or at least mutually agreeable borders negotiated with the Palestinians.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40183000/jpg/_40183770_militants_ap300body.jpghttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40183000/jpg/_40183768_tanks_ap300.jpg
[FONT=Courier New][SIZE=2]Many Palestinians have vowed revenge for Israeli raids[/SIZE][/FONT]
This some Israeli officials feel they have achieved, including Dov Wiesglass, a key advisor to the prime minister who essentially worked out the disengagement plan with the Americans.
"The significance (of the disengagement plan) is the freezing of the political process," he recently told Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper.
"And when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion about the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely."