Palestinian militant factions say truce with Israel ends midnight

[bemildred]

Tel Aviv - Palestinian militant factions said Saturday night that when the New Year rings in, they are no longer obliged to honour a truce agreement with Israel, leaflets from most factions distributed in Gaza said.

The questionable truce was achieved by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shortly after his summit meeting with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon at Egypt in February, though repeated attacks and pinpoint assassinations have led many to question its stability.

'In the last nine months of the Hudna Israel has not shown any commitment to the truce', Palestinians quoted the faction's announcement.

Most armed Palestinian factions said they would refuse to renew the trace and that in any new Hudna discussions, Israel should recognize the faction's conditions first.

Monsters & Critics

[Poppyseedman]

1. I work with a Palestinian. Nice guy, but totally and completely in denial

about the realities in Israel. Oops, I mean Palestinian territories. Israel doesn't exist according to him.

We have had several civil conversations about what is happening over there. He thinks the Jews simply will eventually be forced to leave and give up the "occupation"

When I ask him who will force them out and to where should they go. He says the "sea" where they belong. He thinks if America stopped butting in, Israel will cave in to the pressure and give up.

He doesn't understand Israel will eventually lose patience and simply wall them into Gaza until they decide to live in harmony and learn to co-exist

[Kagemusha]

2. That last sentence is about as realistic as the "sea" option.

Not your fault mind you. Just the sad reality of the situation.

[Poppyseedman]

5. Well, at least Israel has decided to finally co-exist with the Palestine

The big difference is the Palestinian don't even acknowledge Israel exists. They teach their children that and the reality is the sooner reasonable people start running the PLO and "compromise" on the right of Israel to exist, the sooner peace might have a chance to work.

[Scurrilous]

6. The PLO recognizes the right of Israel to exist. n/t

[Poppyseedman]

7. Self delete

I was wrong

[barb162]

10. I think that's incorrect

PLO National Charter
The text of the Palestinian National Charter as amended in 1968 contains many clauses calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. In letters exchanged between Arafat and Rabin in conjunction with the 1993 Oslo Accords, Arafat agreed that those clauses would be removed. On 26 April 1996, the Palestine National Council voted to nullify or amend all such clauses, and called for a new text to be produced. A letter from Arafat to US President Clinton in 1998 listed the clauses concerned, and a meeting of the Palestine Central Committee approved that list. A public meeting of PLO, PNC and PCC members also confirmed the letter in Clinton's presence, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted this as the promised nullification. Nevertheless, a new text of the Charter has never been produced, and this is the source of a continuing controversy. Critics of the Palestinian organizations claim that failure to produce a new text proves the insincerity of the clause nullifications. One of several Palestinian responses is that the proper replacement of the Charter will be the constitution of the forthcoming state of Palestine. The published draft constitution states that the territory of Palestine "is an indivisible unit based upon its borders on the 4th of June 1967".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLO#Statements_made_by_PLO


Beside that, the main political parties still call for the destruction of Israel

[Violet_Crumble]

12. I know it's correct...

The PLO has recognised Israel's right to exist, and the only way anyone can attempt to argue otherwise is to try to pretend this very important document doesn't exist...

PLO-Israel Letters of Mutual Recognition

Exchange of Letters between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat & Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin

Letter from Chairman Yasser Arafat to Prime Minister Rabin:

September 9, 1993
Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister of Israel

Mr. Prime Minister,

The signing of the Declaration of Principles marks a new era in the history of the Middle East. In firm conviction thereof, I would like to confirm the following PLO commitments:

The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.

The PLO accepts United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations.

The PLO considers that the signing of the Declaration of Principles constitutes a historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts which will endanger peace and stability. Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance prevent violations and discipline violators.

In view of the promise of a new era and the signing of the Declaration of Principles and based on Palestinian acceptance of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel’s right to exist, and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are now inoperative and no longer valid. Consequently, the PLO undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary changes in regard to the Palestinian Covenant.

Sincerely,

Yasser Arafat
Chairman
The Palestine Liberation Organization



Letter from Prime Minister Rabin to Yasser Arafat

September 9, 1993

Yasser Arafat
Chairman
The Palestine Liberation Organization

Mr. Chairman,

In response to your letter of September 9, 1993, I wish to inform you that, in light of the PLO commitments included in your letter, the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and commence negotiations with the PLO within the Middle East peace process.

Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister of Israel


http://www.palestine-un.org/peace/p_b.html

btw, I don't think it's such a great idea to focus solely on Covenants and ignore everything else, as someone might point out that the Likud Charter contains some bits that are totally opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state - if it did already exist, I'm positive they'd have been calling for it's destruction...

Violet...

[barb162]

13. If you don't want to focus solely on documents, Arafat mentioned

this tidbit three years after the exchange of letters in 1996 (from that same Wikipedia link)

"We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. . . . We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem." --Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO (in front of an Arab audience in Stockholm in 1996)"

[Scurrilous]

14. You forgot this dislaimer:

"The neutrality* of this article is disputed.
Please see discussion on the talk page."


* and by neutrality they mean facts.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. And how does that negate the letters of mutual recognition??

Some unverifiable nonsense from Wikipedia trumps a factual treaty?? What sort of weird upside down world have I woken up to today??


Yr claim was that the PLO has not recognised Israel's existance. You were incorrect. If you want to try arguing otherwise, maybe you could start by explaining away the mutual letters of recognition, which is an impossibility...

Violet...

[Violet_Crumble]

16. Have you actually read the PLO Charter?

If you had, you'd have noticed an amendment to it:

Amendments

In a letter to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat stated that those articles which denied Israel's right to exist or are inconsistent with the PLO's new commitments to Israel following their mutual reognition, were no longer valid (see Oslo peace process).

The PNC met in a special session on 26 April 1996 to consider the issue of amending the Charter and adopted the following decision:

A. The Palestinian National Charter is hereby amended by canceling the articles that are contrary to the letters exchanged the P.L.O. and the Government of Israel 9-10 September 1993.

B. Assigns its legal committee with the task of redrafting the Palestinian National Charter in order to present it to the first session of the Palestinian Central Council.

The decision was adopted by a vote of: 504 in favor, 54 against, and 14 abstentions.

On January 1998, Yasser Arafat sent a letter to US President, Bill Clinton, outlining the implications of this decision in terms of the specific articles of the Charter that were nullified or amended as a result of that decision. In December 1998, both the PLO Executive Committee and the PLO Central Council reaffirmed this decision

http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/plo_Charter.asp

[Wordie]

3. Here's the Haaretz article on this issue:

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/664511.html

'Period of quiet' expires at midnight
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said they would no longer be committed to following "a period of calm" despite the efforts of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to preserve a ceasefire he sighed with Israel last February during a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

An increase in violence since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in September has kept peacemaking on hold, but the lull has brought relief on both sides of the front line.

The armed groups say the truce cost them more than they gained because Israel continued raids and did not free all Palestinian prisoners, as they had demanded. Israel said its raids were to stop militants who were planning attacks.

Israel says it holds Abbas responsible for the continuation of the ceasefire since it was agreed with him and not the militant groups. Israel has long pressed Abbas to crack down on militants rather than talking to them.

The article in the OP also says this:
Israel's Army Radio reported that the assumption amongst Israeli government officials is that the Islamic Hamas organization would 'continue to honour the truce' at least until the January 25 Palestinian Legislative elections.

...and the Haaretz article also mentions concerns about the upcoming elections, and the effect further violence might have.

What a mess. I can't help but wonder if the window of opportunity for any hope that both the more moderate Israelis and Palestinians may have had of achieving peace has been missed (I pray that this view is wrong). Too much intransigence on both "sides," imho, has led to this sorry state of affairs.

[Scurrilous]

4. There was a truce?

:shrug:

Oh well, Happy 2006.

[eyl]

8. Sort of

Hamas and Fatah dailed back their violence over the past several months, and Israel has limited attacks against them; most of the violence was from and against Islamic Jihad, and to a lesser extent AAMB.

[bemildred]

9. We had a "peace process" and a "road map", why not a "truce"?

Bullshit rules.

[barb162]

11. I suspect as things get "heated" we will all look back on 2005

as a truce. Not a happy thought

[Lithos]

17. Locking

Referenced site is not the original nor does it appear a legitimate republisher of this article.

You may repost with the original site:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L31713454.htm