Sharon willing to make 'painful concessions'

jjones

Lifer
Oct 9, 2001
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Israel must make "painful concessions" to help achieve Mideast peace by giving up some Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in Sunday's editions of the newspaper Ha'aretz.
In a further reference to the settlements, which have been one of many sticking points in reaching an accord between Israelis and Palestinians, Sharon said, "Look, we are talking about the cradle of the Jewish people. Our whole history is bound up with these places.

"Bethlehem, Shiloh, Beit El. And I know that we will have to part with some of these places," he said.

"As a Jew, this agonizes me. But I have decided to make every effort to reach a settlement. I feel that the rational necessity to reach a settlement is overcoming my feelings."
I hope these are more than just words from Sharon and I hope there is someone, perhaps the new Palestinian Prime Minister, who will listen and meet for peace discussions. I am highly skeptical due to actions on both sides and the constant derailment of peace negotiations. If there is anywhere that the UN can show its worth, it would be in administering an equitable end to fighting and the question of Palestine but they haven't appeared up to the task since the British left.

Edit: oops, forgot to link the article.
 

bentwookie

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2002
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Man, this is what the middle east needs...hopefully the saddam threat is gone for sharon, and he lives up to his words..
Bush will definately go down as a great historical figure.

People don't realize they are witnessing the greatest liberation of their lifetime...appreciate it.
 

Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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I hope he does it, contingent on no more attacks from Palestinians. If they continue attacking, Israel takes the land back... FOR GOOD!
 

etech

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Sharon: Israel May Cede Some Settlements

JERUSALEM - Israel will hand over some Jewish settlements for peace, but the Palestinians must give up their demand that refugees be allowed to return to their former homes in Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published Sunday.

In a broad interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Sharon said he believes the U.S.-led war on Iraq has shaken up the Middle East and may open the door to new opportunities for negotiations
....

It will be an exciting time and with great possibilites for peace in the region if the hardliners on both sides don't muck it up. The lies and misinformation about the goals and reasons for the war with Iraq need to be curtailed. They aren't helping.
 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
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Man, this is what the middle east needs...hopefully the saddam threat is gone for sharon, and he lives up to his words..

Last time I checked, Syria and Iran were the primary benefactors supporting terrorist attacks on Israel. Saddam's family ransoms got a lot of press but the attacks began well before he offered "compensation" to relatives.
 

Heisenberg

Lifer
Dec 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Man, this is what the middle east needs...hopefully the saddam threat is gone for sharon, and he lives up to his words..

Last time I checked, Syria and Iran were the primary benefactors supporting terrorist attacks on Israel. Saddam's family ransoms got a lot of press but the attacks began well before he offered "compensation" to relatives.

That may be true, but Saddam's importance was as much symbolic as logistical. He is/was viewed as a sort of hero for standing up to the 'evil' West. Now that he's gone I would guess that it will change the situation quite a bit. Perhaps show that fear and terror are not acceptable methods to get what you want, and convince people to find other ways (I seriously doubt it though).
 

Grakatt

Senior member
Feb 27, 2003
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Jews and muslims...wooe unto all that is Christian in the Holy Land.. :D

Seriously, I hope this is more than empty talk, and I hope it leads somewhere. It needs to be seen peace did not throw up its hands in disgust and leave permanently years ago.
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
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LOL. Yep. The Palestinians and Israelis were just waiting for Saddam to leave before they made peace.
Like I suggested some time ago, take all the palestinians in the territories and move them to Iraq. I think Iraq owes us at least a little piece of land to move 1 Million Palestinians to for liberating them. What's 1 Million Palestinians in a country of 25 Million.
We should just do it and get it over with. Otherwise, this fighting will continue indefinitely.
 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
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That may be true, but Saddam's importance was as much symbolic as logistical. He is/was viewed as a sort of hero for standing up to the 'evil' West. Now that he's gone I would guess that it will change the situation quite a bit. Perhaps show that fear and terror are not acceptable methods to get what you want, and convince people to find other ways (I seriously doubt it though).

I think your doubt is well-founded. Saddam developed hero status as a default . . . Osama bin Laden also has a certain cult panache in the region. But where OBL actually hurt the evil West, fights for the faith, and embraces all who are true to the faith . . . Saddam has NEVER injured the West and fought only for himself. The soft support Saddam had in the region has quickly dissolved. Citizens of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt now curse Saddam for going out like a punk. OBL is an inspiration . . . Saddam is an embarassment.

As for Sharon . . . all it takes is a solitary heinous act committed by a single person for him to scrap all of this "painful concessions" talk and resume his preferred route of annexation and deportation.
 

mastertech01

Moderator Emeritus Elite Member
Nov 13, 1999
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The Palestinians will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land.
 

exp

Platinum Member
May 9, 2001
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Israel May Cede Some Settlements
"Some" being the key word. I doubt this is going to be an acceptable compromise to the Palestinian PM. Not that it really matters anyway....as long as Arafat is around I'd say there is zero chance of an actual peace agreement.

 

Czar

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: mastertech01
The Palestinians will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land.

now lets put this differently so you can see how silly that sounds
"The Israelis will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land."
 

jjones

Lifer
Oct 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: exp
Israel May Cede Some Settlements
"Some" being the key word. I doubt this is going to be an acceptable compromise to the Palestinian PM. Not that it really matters anyway....as long as Arafat is around I'd say there is zero chance of an actual peace agreement.
I tend to agree. That single word "some" leads me to believe that there won't be serious headway made, as this "some" is likely to be unacceptable to the Palestinians. And even if talks were to progress, there will surely be efforts made to derail them and, as BBD intimated, Sharon is most probably still too hot-headed to remain calm and committed when confronted with another terrorist attempt to break up relations.

Still, I can't recall having seen this attitude from Sharon before so I'll remain hopeful but skeptical. I'd like to see US pressure put upon both Israel and Palestine to cooperate and I'd like to see some real action from the UN to get involved in a peaceful solution, other than scribbling another resolution against Israel of course.

 

jjones

Lifer
Oct 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: Czar
Originally posted by: mastertech01
The Palestinians will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land.

now lets put this differently so you can see how silly that sounds
"The Israelis will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land."
I think he was referring to SuperTool's suggestion of putting the Palestinians in Iraq.

 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
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"Some" being the key word. I doubt this is going to be an acceptable compromise to the Palestinian PM. Not that it really matters anyway....as long as Arafat is around I'd say there is zero chance of an actual peace agreement.

Ditto for Sharon.
 

Conky

Lifer
May 9, 2001
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Why do the muslims even want any part of Israel?

They have mecca as a shrine to their cult. The land of Israel has more significance to Jews and Christians but the Muslims want to claim everybody elses sacred land as their own.
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: jjones
Originally posted by: Czar
Originally posted by: mastertech01
The Palestinians will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land.

now lets put this differently so you can see how silly that sounds
"The Israelis will not just settle for any old piece of land.. they want what they feel is thier historical holy land."
I think he was referring to SuperTool's suggestion of putting the Palestinians in Iraq.
So what if they don't settle, they are going to be in Iraq. :)
 

SViscusi

Golden Member
Apr 12, 2000
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Originally posted by: Crazyfool
Why do the muslims even want any part of Israel?

They have mecca as a shrine to their cult. The land of Israel has more significance to Jews and Christians but the Muslims want to claim everybody elses sacred land as their own.

Cult?
 

Helenihi

Senior member
Dec 25, 2001
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Originally posted by: Crazyfool
Why do the muslims even want any part of Israel?

They have mecca as a shrine to their cult. The land of Israel has more significance to Jews and Christians but the Muslims want to claim everybody elses sacred land as their own.


There's some vague statement in the Koran about Muhammed ascending to heaven from Jerusalem or something like that. I don't think it actually mentions Jerusalem, and I'm not sure how they ever decided Jerusalem was the spot, but there you have it. And I have no idea why they want to claim half the world as holy ground for some reason or another. Apparently anywhere any Islamic figure of moderate importance was born, grew up,ruled, died, preached, worked, breathed,or took a crap, becomes holy land.

But the Palestinian problem isn't about holy land, except maybe in the case of Jerusalem. It's about security, nationhood, the right of Palestinians living abroad to return to the land they(or their parents) fled in '48 or during one of the later wars.
 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
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Apparently it is an open argument amongst Muslims. Many, in particular the Shia, consider Jerusalem unimportant. In their view, the Saudi sites are revered and then there's everything else.