![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]()
Jerusalem (AFP) Nov 10, 2010 Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Wednesday for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Israeli settlement building that has deadlocked peace talks, his spokesman told AFP. Nabil Abu Rudeinah said Abbas had "instructed the Palestinian representative to the United Nations to request an urgent session of the Security Council to discuss the issue of widespread settlement in Jerusalem and the West Bank." Earlier this week, Israel confirmed it was planning to build more than 1,300 new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, prompting a furious reaction from the Palestinians, who urged the international community to immediately recognise a Palestinian state. Peace talks between the two sides have been teetering on the brink of collapse since the end of September when an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction ran out. Since then, the Palestinians have refused to continue talking while Israel builds on land they want for a future state and have called for the building ban to be reimposed. US-led efforts to prod Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reinstating the freeze have led nowhere. About 500,000 Israelis live in more than 120 settlements across the West Bank, including east Jerusalem. The Palestinians see the settlements as a major threat to the establishment of a viable state and view the freezing of settlement activity as a crucial test of Israel's intentions.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links
![]() ![]() Washington (UPI) Nov 9, 2010 The midterm election results weren't only a "shellacking" for U.S. President Barack Obama but they drove the Mideast peace process back into the oubliette. The key was in safe hands. AIPAC - the Israeli lobby - emerged with still more congressional friends than before. Obama got out of Dodge and flew to India as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived with wife Sara and sold ... read more |
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |