Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to submit proposals on territory and security to international mediators who are trying to re-start direct peace talks.

A spokesman for the Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators announced the agreement on Wednesday after the group held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Jerusalem.

The spokesman says the two sides have agreed to hold regular meetings with Quartet negotiators for the next 90 days.

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- Voice of America News

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Matthew Ackerman of the David Project came to Rutgers Hillel to talk about the the following topic: “Palestinian Declaration of Statehood: Challenges and Consequences.” This lecture was part of the “Real Partners. Real Peace.” Initiative.

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- Tzvi Raviv, Rutgers Hillel Center for Israel Engagement

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The new composition of the UN Security Council after the election Friday of temporary members to the body will be friendlier to the United States and less inclined to vote for Palestinian inclusion in the council, diplomatic officials and news analysts in New York have said.

Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were elected to the body in a secret ballot; a second vote early this week will give the fifth place to either Azerbaijan or Slovenia, neither of which garnered the necessary majority on Friday to win in the first round.

Guatemala, which replaces Brazil on the council, is considered more amenable to U.S. influence than that country. Morocco, too, is expected to show understanding for the U.S. despite being an Arab League member.

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- Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz

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What a difference three years can make. In September 2008, the Yale Political Union (YPU) voted by a 44-25 margin to end the US-Israel special relationship, in a move that Yale Hillel’s current Israel chair, Josh Kalla, terms a low point for Israel’s supporters at the school. Now, exactly three years later, the situation has changed. On Sept. 22, YPU voted to support a resolution that said, “America should oppose unilateral Palestinian statehood.”

The final vote in favor of opposing the UN move was 75-44.

Even more impressive than the final tally, observers said, was the civil tone that characterized the debate.

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- Melissa Rauch, Israel Campus Beat

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The Palestinian quest for UN membership is likely to come to a head on or around Nov. 11, when Security Council ambassadors plan a final meeting to decide their response, diplomats said on Wednesday.

The date represents a delay in dealing with the Palestinian application, submitted by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sept. 23, amid hopes that indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks scheduled for next week could get a peace process off the ground.

The Nov. 11 meeting could result in a vote by the divided council, diplomats said. The United States, which supports its ally Israel in strongly opposing the membership bid, is considered certain to veto it but the Palestinians may seek a vote anyway if they can show majority support in the council.

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- Reuters and The Jerusalem Post

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http://www.clevelandhillel.org/videos.htm

“Israelis and Palestinians: The Possibilities for Peace”
George B. & Elsa Golden Memorial Lecture
Originally Webcast Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 7:30PM ET
Case Western Reserve University

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

David Makovsky, Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies

Ghaith al-Omari, Executive Director of the Task Force in Palestine ATFP
The forum is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Cleveland Hillel Foundation and co-sponsored by the Center for Policy Studies, the Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, Office of Student Affairs, Jewish Student Group, Jewish Law Student Organization, and the School of Law.

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So if Israel has consistently proven its willingness to negotiate to achieve a just peace with its neighbors, why is Abbas unilaterally approaching the U.N.? If the state he is asking for contains a half million people his organization said cannot live therein, why does he refuse to negotiate with Israel to draw a viable border? And if the Palestinian Authority is serious about creating two states for two peoples, why does it refuse to accept Israel as the Jewish state?

Because Abbas’s statehood bid is a charade. Because it is a cynical attempt to draw attention away from the Palestinian Authority’s unwillingness to compromise and to work with Israel to find a permanent solution to this conflict. Because as Abbas reminds us time and again, he considers the occupation to be as old as the state of Israel, meaning that to the Palestinian Authority, Tel Aviv is as much a settlement as Ariel. If the Palestinian Authority were serious about making peace, there would be no reason for the current bid at the U.N.

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- Jacob Lewis, Op/Ed in UC Berkeley’s The Daily Californian

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There is no conceivable way for Israel to engage in peace talks with an organization that has factions , like Hamas, committed to Israel’s destruction. Associating with an organization like Hamas’ clearly demonstrates Abbas’ disregard for the peace process and naïve way of thinking.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel supports peace and a commitment to the Oslo Accords, which state that both parties agree that the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be solved through direct negotiations between the two parties.”

Abbas is violating the Oslo Accords by attempting to circumvent Israel and not engage in direct negotiations.

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- Connor Caudill, Op/Ed in the Indiana Daily Student

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Watch a video of the discussion at the link below (Watch in a browser or right click to save to your desktop):
http://media.law.berkeley.edu/qtmedia/IJL/20111003_IJL.mp4

David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of The Washington Institute’s Project on the Middle East Peace Process. He is co-author with Dennis Ross of Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East.

Ghaith al-Omari is Executive Director at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). Prior to that, he served within the Palestinian Authority as Director of the International Relations Dept in the Office of the President, and as advisor to former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Sponsors:
The Institute of International Studies; IHouse; Berkeley Hillel; Israel Action Committee; Center for Middle East Studies; Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israeli Law, Economy and Society; Real Partners. Real Partners.; Jewish Student Union; Israel Campus Coalition

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Bikya Masr: You have argued that a key to your work is “mutual respect and civilized discussion” and have engaged with many pro-Israel scholars such as David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and advocates from pro-Israel groups like AIPAC—a strategy that has been criticized by many Palestinians. Do you believe this type of dialogue is necessary between regular Israelis and Palestinians, who have become more separated in recent years and, if so, how should it be brought about?

Al-Omari: Yes, a dialogue is absolutely necessary. The absence [of a dialogue] has been one of the saddest and most destructive legacies of the violence of the past eight years. A dialogue must focus on mutual interests, such as the economy. In the economic sector, a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians exists and it is not an abstract dialogue. It is important to find the intersection of interests and create a dialogue around these areas.

- Ryan Doherty, Bikya Masr

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