Texts for discussion Part II

From The Times

January 27, 2009

President Obama announces push to wean us off the gas-guzzler

Tom Baldwin in Washington

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George Mitchell, the new US peace envoy, will fly into Israel today as the Obama administration signals its determination to tackle the Middle East conflict.

The veteran senator, who helped Northern Ireland end its protracted conflict, previously recommended that Israel halt settlement growth in the occupied territories and that Palestinians crack down on militant when he headed a 2001 task force to investigate the reasons for the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada.

The main purpose of his first trip will be to explore the new complexities of the conflict, in particular the split of the Palestinian camp into the hard-line Islamist Hamas regime in Gaza and the more moderate Fatah administration in the West Bank.

After the latest war in Gaza, Hamas said it would consider a year-long truce with Israel, but Gazans hold out little hope for the talks and many are desperately trying to sell property in areas likely to be in the front line of Israel’s next assault.

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Ayman Taha, a Hamas negotiator, said after discussions in Egypt that Israel must lift its blockade of the impoverished territory if it wanted to avoid renewed Palestinian rocket fire into its southern towns.

"Hamas listened to the Israeli proposal presented by [Israeli envoy] Amos Gilad and with it a proposal for a ceasefire for a year and a half, but Hamas presented a counterproposal of one year only," he said. Israel refuses to open the borders as long as there are Hamas members – whom it considers terrorists – on the other side.

Various proposals are under discussion in Cairo, including motions to introduce Egyptian, EU or Turkish monitors to supervise crossings and try to inhibit Hamas smuggling in more armaments.

But the negotiations are hobbled by the fact that Israel and Hamas refuse to talk to each other, while the two main Palestinian parties, Hamas and Fatah, are still squabbling over who will is the legitimate government and who will ultimately take control of the estimated $2 billion reconstruction money needed to tackle the massive damage of Israel’s three-week onslaught.

A senior European envoy inspecting the damage today expressed the EU’s deepening exasperation at continually footing the bill for the seemingly intractable dispute between the two foes. "At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas," said Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. "I intentionally say this here - Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such.

Obama seeks to repair damage in Middle East diplomacy drive Americans are not your enemy, president tells Arabic tv network as us envoy sets out on eight days of talks

Barack Obama, interviewed in Washington by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya cable network Photograph: Al-Arabiya/AP

Barack Obama has sought to mend America's ties with the Muslim world, declaring: "Americans are not your enemy."

In a signal of his desire to repair the diplomatic damage of the George Bush era, Obama chose to give his first formal television interview since becoming US president to the Arabic cable TV network al-Arabiya. In it, he said the US sometimes made mistakes, but stressed that his administration would adopt a more open diplomatic approach than his predecessor's.

Obama renewed his pledge to make an address in the capital of a major Muslim country, pointed out that he had lived in Indonesia for several years while growing up, and said his travels through Muslim states had convinced him that, regardless of faith, people had certain common hopes and dreams.

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect," Obama said in the interview, recorded yesterday.

To Iran – which Bush declared part of an "axis of evil" – Obama repeated his offer of friendship, saying that he would set out a policy towards Tehran in the next few months.

Susan Rice, the new US ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday pledged "vigorous" and "direct" nuclear diplomacy with Iran but warned pressure would increase if Tehran refused to halt uranium enrichment.

The five permanent members of the UN security council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – and Germany have offered Tehran economic and energy incentives in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment programme, which the west sees as a cover to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. But Tehran is pressing on with the programme, which it says is geared toward electricity generation.

The president reiterated the US commitment to Israel as an ally, and to its right to defend itself. But he suggested Israel had hard choices to make, and that his administration would press harder for it to make them.

"We cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what is best for them," he said. "They are going to have to make some decisions. But I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realise that the path they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people."

Obama added: "There are Israelis who recognise that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."

Obama stopped short of giving a timetable, but he said he was certain progress could be made.