[Transcript]  Mosaic News - 11/18/09: World News From The Middle East

Presenter, Female #1
In blatant defiance against the U.S. Administration and the international community, Israeli authorities have approved the construction of 900 new housing units in the Gilo neighborhood in East Jerusalem, which is home to more than 40,000 Israelis. The issue of settlements has become an obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East. This latest Israeli move may help take the Palestinian-Israeli conflict back to square one. Sheruk Asa’d reports from occupied Jerusalem.

Reporter, Female #2
Israel approved the construction of 900 new housing units at the settlement of Gilo, which was built on Palestinian land that was occupied in the 1967 war. The settlement was annexed by force to Israel as part of its so called “Great Jerusalem Project.”

Guest, Male #1
What is happening right now in Jerusalem is the implementation of the Israeli project, dubbed 20:20, which calls for the expansion of existing settlements as well as the construction of new settlement outposts. The project aims to change the current demographics of Jerusalem in favor of Israel.

Reporter, Female #2
It’s a new-old campaign intended to create new demographic realities on the ground in order to derail efforts aimed at establishing a sovereign and independent Palestinian state. Therefore, it will be impossible to divide Jerusalem. It’s a message to the Palestinians in particular, and to the international community in general. The Israeli move comes at a critical time and after the Palestinian authority vowed to start a war of diplomacy inside the UN Security Council. It also comes after the US has reluctantly expressed reservations over the settlement issue.

Guest, Male #1
This latest move is Israel’s response to the Palestinians indicating that Jerusalem is the capital of the Hebrew State. Therefore it’s outside the framework of peace negotiations. In addition, the issue of settlement construction in Jerusalem is excluded from any agreements.

Guest, Male #3
With a government like Netanyahu’s, peace would be impossible to achieve. The only option we have, as Palestinians, is to demand the international community to impose wide-scale sanctions against Israel, as well as to engage in national resistance against the occupation.

Reporter, Female #2
Palestinians differ over the best course of action they should pursue. However, they all agree that the peace process has become futile under the given circumstances. Sheruk Asa’d, Dubai TV, occupied Jerusalem.

Presenter, Female #1
Meanwhile, Washington expressed “dismay” over the Israeli decision to build more settlements in East Jerusalem. The White House spokesperson, Robert Gibbs, expressed regret over the decision by the Jerusalem planning committee to move forward with the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem.“We believe that these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed,” Gibbs added. Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly has condemned the ongoing Israeli campaign of eviction and demolishment of Palestinian homes.

The United States, along with the European Union and the United Nations, have come down hard on Israel for approving the construction of 900 housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. This decision has infuriated the US and President Obama has stated that new building complicates efforts to relaunch peace talks and that additional settlements don’t make Israel safer.

Guest, Man # 2
How can Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas believe US promises even if they were hand written by President Obama? We want to see tangible results; we want real actions not promises. We have gotten on board with American promises and sweet talk, which take place as Israel continues to confiscate Palestinian land and increase its settlement activities. The last position taken by the US was in support of the Israeli position which calls for the followings. First, Israel will continue the construction of 2500 residential units because since they are already under construction. Second, settlement construction will continue in East Jerusalem. Third, the construction of public buildings within the so called settlement blocks will also continue. Fourth, the construction of the apartheid wall will continue. This is enough to keep Israeli bulldozers busy for more than a year. This is even more than what was built last year. Therefore, we will go back to the broken record of peace negotiations. Negotiations will continue as Israel continues to rob the land. The peace process must change; the Palestinians must use a new approach to negotiations. The approach that was used for the past 15 years by the Palestinians has failed and they should change it. It failed because of the Israeli position, in addition to Palestinian and Arab mistakes, but primarily because Israel has gotten away with not implementing past agreements.

Host, Man # 1
But when you say that the peace process has failed, one may also include president Mahmud Abbas who took charge of the process of giving up the armed intifada and returning to the negotiation table. He has said that negotiations will bring good results and so on. Do you think that the option for peace negotiations will collapse from the perspective of the Palestinians?

Guest, Man # 2
There is now serious reconsideration of past negotiations and how to go about it in the future. No one is infallible and if Mahmud Abbas decides to retire from politics, then he will be the last Palestinian leader to negotiate with Israel based on the two states solution.

Host, Man # 1
What about the statements that were made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She said the US will work with Abbas if he takes another position. These statements also came as Shaol Mufaz from the Israeli Kadima party said that it is possible for Israel to talk with Hamas. Do you think this is an Israeli political maneuver, or do you think that Israel now prefers to deal with Hamas more than Abbas?

Guest, Man # 2
This is the thinking of Shaol Mufaz and Ehud Barak, and Ashkinazi. This is what the Israeli military establishment thinks. This explains why they were the happiest people to see Palestinians divided. They say that the borders are under control, and that the Palestinians do not have weapons.
They also say that there is a force on the ground that can stop these missiles from being launched, and therefore some Israelis represented by Mufaz think that Israel should negotiate with Hamas.

Host, Man # 1
Do you think that he is serious, or is he just being provocative?

Guest, Man # 2
No, this is what Shaol Mufaz believes in. Ehud Barak also believes in this. Ehud Barak does not believe that Israel should negotiate with Mahmud Abbas. He does not believe that they have a Palestinian partner and that they think that the PLO wants to destroy Israel.

Host, Man # 1
But what will Israel negotiate with Hamas about, especially when considering that Israel wants to negotiate just for the sake of gaining time.

Guest, Man # 2
Barak and Shaol Mufaz are talking about a state with temporary borders. The Palestinians and Abbas in particular should refuse this. Whatever is described as temporary by Israeli officials tend to become permanent. Therefore whoever accepts a Palestinian state with temporary borders is in effect giving up unequivocally on the Palestinian principles.

Presenter, Man # 1
The Turkish ministry of Justice has decided to end the solitary confinement of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Presenter, Woman # 1
This comes after Turkey had promised the European Court of Human Rights to improve Abdullah Ocalan’s prison conditions. According to the new Turkish rules Ocalan was transferred to a new prison, and can now meet other prisoners for 10 hours a week.

Reporter, Man # 1
It is no secret that Turkey’s decision to improve the prison conditions for Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan who is imprisoned on Imrali Island, was aimed at easing European criticism. Turkey is accused of violating Ocalan’s human rights because he had been kept in solitary confinement since he was arrested in Kenya 10 years ago. He was charged with treason for leading an armed rebellion in order to establish an independent Kurdish state. At the time, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later changed to life in prison in 2001 when Turkey abolished the death penalty as a means to improve its human rights record. This step was taken in response to the European demand that Turkey improve its human rights record as a precondition to join the EU. Turkey decided to transfer Ocalan to a new prison where he can meet with other prisoners from the party he founded, the Kurdistan Workers' Party. This is yet another step taken by Turkey to solve the Kurdish problem. The government of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has recently put in place plans to increase the rights of the 12 millions Kurds in Turkey, who have been complaining about discrimination for a long time. Erdogan suggested in July 2009 the implementation of a road map that would give the Kurds more rights, and exerted intensive efforts to generate public support for his initiative that faced strong opposition from the national and secular Turkish parties, and even from the only Kurdish party at the Turkish parliament. The Turkish efforts were aimed at ending the conflict with the Kurds which has killed more than 40 thousand people since it erupted about 25 years ago. According to Erdogan, the conflict with the Kurds has cost Turkey 300 million dollars, which he said is tax money that could have been used to build more than 100 schools, and improve the health and social services for the Turkish citizens.

Presenter, Male #1
Iraqi President, Jalal al-Talabani, has told al-Arabia channel that the presidential office has approved the election law due to the fear of creating a constitutional vacuum. Talabani said that his office has approved the election law but expressed reservations over certain articles.

Guest, Male #2
Mr. Tarik al-Hashemi was exercising his constitutional rights when he vetoed the election law and expressed reservations. My Brother Adel Abdul Mahdi and I didn’t want to vote for the election law, but we changed our mind due to the fear that this decision may delay the elections. The postponement of the elections without the approval of the parliament will create a constitutional vacuum in Iraq. If this happens, the president, the prime minister, and the parliament, will all lose their legitimacy. This will create a constitutional vacuum in Iraq. No one knows who will govern Iraq because concerned parties will lack legitimacy. Amidst this constitutional fear, we have voted in favor of the election law but we have expressed our reservations. Several articles of the law must be amended at a later date by the parliament.

Presenter, Male #1
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, has condemned the decision to veto the election law. Al-Maliki said that the decision poses serious threats to the political process. He called on the election committee to continue preparing for the upcoming elections without any further delays. The Iraqi Vice President, Tarik al-Hashemi had earlier contested one article of the law. This has prompted the electoral committee to halt the preparation process for the upcoming elections, set to take place on January 20, 2010.

Reporter, Male #3
The new Iraqi election law has been declared “clinically dead,” after it was approved by the parliament this month. The Iraqi electoral committee halted the preparation process for the upcoming legislative elections set to take place next January. The Iraqi Vice President, Tarik al-Hashemi, has vetoed the new law, which would have given the council of ministers the authority to amend it. Al-Hashemi has rejected the first article of the law, pertaining to the allocation of parliamentary seats to Iraqis living abroad. He said that the new law doesn’t give a voice to expatriate Iraqis, many of whom are Sunnis who fled the country during the sectarian warfare after the US-led invasion in 2003. The Iraqi Vice President called for the increase of parliamentary seats for minorities, expatriates, and members of the national lists. The proposed increase is from 5% to 15%.

Guest, Male #4
We were able to achieve a national consensus within Iraq and abroad. We have heard voices from the Iraqi council of ministers calling to send the law back to the parliament so that it can be amended.

Reporter, Male #3
The Iraqi Kurdistan region rejects the mechanism employed in the allocation of parliamentary seats based on the food-rationing system that was adopted by the Ministry of Trade. The Kurdish government said that the system contradicts the reality on the ground and violates the rights of the people of Kurdistan.

Guest, Male #5
The number of people that have relocated in the region of Kurdistan is much higher than that of other provinces, that have witnessed fighting and armed hostilities. Therefore, we demand an explanation from the Iraqi Ministry of Trade.

Reporter, Male #3
Iraqi sources have confirmed that they have generated their lists based on data from the food-rationing system, which is unrealistic because it fails to take into account the total population. The leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party vowed to boycott the elections if the parliament fails to review the allocation of seats to the Kurdish provinces. The High Independent Election Committee allocated 38 parliamentary seats for the three Kurdish provinces, based on the data of the Ministry of Trade. The Kurdistan Alliance Bloc currently has 54 seats in the parliament, from a total of 275. The new law gives 5%, nearly 16 parliamentary seats, to minorities, and those who have forcefully migrated inside Iraq. The seats are to be divided equally among the groups: 8 seats for the minorities, and 8 for the Iraqi migrants. Some have criticized this allocation and described it as unfair. Khalid al-Kashif, Alarabiya.

Presenter, Male #1
Some representatives questioned the government and requested that it disclose its statement of account of the last four years. They asked the Council of Representatives to unveil the programs it carried out in accordance to the budget appropriated to it by the Parliament, in addition to the necessary legal projects. This request coincided with the release of a government statement from the Financial Ministry confirming that there is a deficit in the budget.

Reporter, Female #1
After the elections in 2005, heaps of promises were made to the Iraqi people, carrying hopes from the US administration that the American program will succeed in achieving what it has described as “democracy”. But the goodwill did not last long, and soon the amazement quickly turned into increasingly strong criticism because of the high death toll of innocent people. The Iraqi government opened an investigation into the allegations that the American security firm Blackwater bribed officials in the Ministry of Interior, in order for them to postpone the case of Nisour Square in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed in 2007. The Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bulani requested that involved officials look into the matter. The investigation came after the New York Times published a report that included statements by important company officials. The article indicated that they had appropriated one million dollars to the company’s office in Baghdad to stop the criticism directed at them in the aftermath of Nisour Square incident. But company officials have denied the allegations, even though the money was actually paid to Iraqi government officials. Prominent officials from Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe, had said to the New York Times that important officials of the company endorsed officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in December 2007 in an attempt to appease them. Two of these officials affirmed to the newspaper that they were not directly involved in the discussions about the bribes. Two other officials said that they only heard about the topic.The officials added that the discussion of bribery which is considered a violation of US law caused a dangerous rift in the company. Because of the criticism of the government’s behavior, the head of the integrity committee of the Parliament and representative of the Fadila Party, Sobahi Sa’edi, suggested that the government provide answers to these questions before the parliament’s time in office ends. Sa’edi demanded that the government send a statement to provide what he has described as a disclosure on its performance. Meanwhile, Representative Baha’e al-Arij indicated that the official statement of account from the Financial Ministry already exists, confirming that there is a deficit in the budget, after its plans were changed by the Prime Minister. A wave of criticism among the different sides of Iraq on all levels has appeared to be frankly directed at the Iraqi government following the security breaches, especially since the date of the representative elections is approaching in Iraq.

Presenter, Man # 1
The American envoy to Sudan Scott Gration arrived in Khartoum to meet with the Sudanese President and senior officials from the ruling party. Gration will visit the two states of northern Darfur and Southern Kardufan. The US State Department has said that one of Gration’s most important goal is to provide support to the armed factions in Darfur ahead to the anticipated talks in Qatar.

Reporter, Man # 2
The American envoy Scott Gration returns to Sudan. Gration’s trip, which is his second to Sudan within 8 months, includes visits to the two states of northern Darfur and Southern Kardufan, in addition to meeting with prominent figures including the vice president and other leaders fro the ruling party. In April 2009, during his first visit to Sudan Gration said that he was still listening to opposition parties in Darfur which was a signal that the US is changing its policy in Sudan. The ongoing visit is not much different. It is a practical step towards implementing Washington’s desire to establish peace in Darfur, and stop what it has described as mass murder that shocks the world. One of Gration’s current goals is to unit more than 20 armed groups in Darfur ahead of the peace negations with the government, which will take place in Doha. This, however, does not mean that the American Administration has changed its perspective on what took place in Darfur in the past years. Obama, who appointed Gration as his envoy to Sudan in April 2009, still believes that what happened in Darfur is a humanitarian tragedy caused by mass murder among other things. However Khartoum strongly rejects this claim, and says that what is happening in Darfur is a struggle among local tribes and that it has no control over it. Khartoum also challenges the decision of the International Criminal Court to try the Sudanese president Umar al-Bashir for his responsibility in this conflict. Therefore, tangible results are not expected from Gration’s visit to Sudan, not in the eyes of the people of Darfur who are waiting for something to end their suffering, or at least decrease it.

Iran is considering a simultaneous swap of nuclear fuel inside the country, and will not send its low-enriched uranium aboard. Tehran has reviewed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s proposal and has notified the Agency of its response. Iranian experts are studying how much fuel is needed to be swapped.