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NEWS FLASH: Israeli Kinnesset Votes 67-45 to Pull Out
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| Spacey Orange |
| Please add more info here. |
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| Spacey Orange |
CNN Link
| quote: | Knesset to vote on Gaza pullout plan
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 Posted: 2:26 PM EDT (1826 GMT)
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Opponents of a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank on Tuesday tried to derail a historic vote with last-minute parliamentary maneuvering, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared determined to go ahead.
Approval of the plan had been expected, but just minutes before the vote, a key party in the coalition said it would quit the government within two weeks if Sharon did not agree to hold a national referendum in the coming months. Sharon has rejected the referendum idea, which has been pushed by the settlers, as a stalling tactic.
The National Religious Party had been expected to oppose the plan anyway, but the announcement may have emboldened some members of Sharon's Likud Party to buck the prime minister and vote against the plan.
Several Likud Cabinet ministers who had been expected to reluctantly support the plan were holding last-minute talks, presumably seeking key concessions from Sharon in exchange for a vote in favor.
Despite the backroom maneuvering, Sharon took his seat in the Knesset and appeared confident. A vote in favor of the plan would mark the first time the Knesset agreed to the uprooting of Jewish settlements in lands claimed by the Palestinians for a state.
Sharon entered parliament Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by 16 bodyguards, an unprecedented number. Outside, police cordoned off the building, restricting entry, as thousands of settlers gathered in a nearby park to protest the plan. Protection for Sharon has been beefed up in recent weeks amid growing concern he could by attacked by right-wing extremists.
The withdrawal plan has bitterly divided the nation, and solidified Sharon's transformation from long-time patron of the Jewish settlers to their No. 1 nemesis.
In other developments, a weakened Yasser Arafat broke his Ramadan fast at the urging of his doctors Tuesday and was undergoing more medical tests, aides said. A Palestinian hospital officials said an X-ray and ultrasound revealed that Arafat had a large gallstone.
Arafat's aides have insisted that the 75-year-old Palestinian leader is recovering from the flu. But Israeli officials speculated the Palestinian leader is suffering from a serious illness. Teams of Egyptian and Tunisian doctors have examined him in recent days.
In southern Gaza, Israeli troops withdrew from the Khan Younis refugee camp, ending a two-day operation aimed at halting Palestinian mortar fire. Seventeen Palestinians were killed by army fire.
Tuesday's vote is the climax of a monthslong confrontation over Sharon's "unilateral disengagement" plan, which has torn apart the ruling Likud Party and weakened his coalition government.
The vote also came on the nine-year anniversary, according to the Jewish calendar, of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist Jew opposed to his peace efforts.
Sharon opened the parliament debate Monday, defending his plan as the only way to secure Israel's future. "This is a fateful moment for Israel," he declared in a speech that was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers.
Sharon told lawmakers that supporting the withdrawal, which will uproot 8,800 settlers from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements, was the most difficult decision of his long career.
However, he said Israel does not want to rule over millions of Palestinians and suggested the settlers were unreasonable in their opposition.
Sharon even made some conciliatory remarks toward the Palestinians, expressing regret for the plight of refugees displaced by fighting with Israel.
"This is the way of war. However, war is not inevitable and predestined," he said. "Even today, we regret the loss of innocent lives in your midst. Our way is not one of intentional killing."
Israeli commentators said Sharon's speech was remarkable, both for his gestures toward the Palestinians and his unprecedented criticism of settlers, whom he accused of suffering from a "messianic" complex.
"Even if tomorrow morning Ariel Sharon resigns from his position, or is deposed, or recants, this earthquake has already occurred. The rift has taken place. Nothing will ever be the same," columnist Ben Caspit wrote in the Maariv daily.
Sharon was counting on a victory Tuesday, but only with the help of dovish opposition parties. Nearly half of Likud's 40 lawmakers said they would vote against him, and two religious parties that Sharon has courted -- Shas and United Torah Judaism -- also have come out against the plan.
Sharon was hoping for at least 65 "yes" votes in the 120-member Knesset, with at least 48 lawmakers expected to vote against the plan.
Tuesday's vote is only the first of several required before the plan can be implemented next year. Sharon's shaky government remains in danger of falling over other issues, including the budget.
Still, the vote would mark the first time parliament has approved the dismantling of Jewish settlements in Gaza or the West Bank. Opinion polls show a solid majority of the public supports Sharon.
The plan marks a dramatic transformation for the man who spent decades leading the effort to build up the settlements. As recently as early 2003, Sharon said that the Gaza settlements are an essential part of Israel.
But after four years of devastating violence in the region, Sharon believes the continued occupation of Gaza -- where 8,200 Jewish settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians -- is untenable.
Sharon says his plan will boost Israel's security. He also believes it will blunt international criticism of Israel and strengthen its hold over large parts of the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- lands the Palestinians claim for a state.
Jewish settlers and hard-line lawmakers accuse Sharon of caving in to Palestinian violence and fear the withdrawal will be the first step in a larger pullback.
Sharon "is the architect and the originator of the settlement enterprise. So to talk like this to the people he sent, there's a name for it. It's a kind of treason," said Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party.
On Tuesday, several thousand settlers and their supporters demonstrated against Sharon in a park outside the Knesset, vowing to fight the withdrawal plan with a mixture of faith and defiance.
Most of the protesters were children from settlements, which canceled school Tuesday for the event.
Thousands of supporters of the plan demonstrated outside the Knesset on Monday night, singing songs, waving Israeli flags and holding signs reading "leave Gaza immediately."
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| Yoepus |
Come on are the Europeans now going to condemn the unilateralists?
What years and years of multilateralisim could not be achieved is being done correctly and smartly unilaterally without the big and proud 'international community'. |
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| trancaholic |
| This is really good news. When even a right winger can see the sense in leaving the occupied territories, there's hope ahead. I wonder how long it will be before radical fundamentalist Jews do a Rabin on Sharon, though? |
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| St_Andrew |
| quote: | Originally posted by trancaholic
This is really good news. When even a right winger can see the sense in leaving the occupied territories, there's hope ahead. I wonder how long it will be before radical fundamentalist Jews do a Rabin on Sharon, though? |
^^
:) |
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| FuzzyGreen |
| I seriously doubt this will stop the terrorism. |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by trancaholic
This is really good news. When even a right winger can see the sense in leaving the occupied territories, there's hope ahead. I wonder how long it will be before radical fundamentalist Jews do a Rabin on Sharon, though? |
Come on, what happened to Sharon the war criminal?
Now you are comparing him to Rabin in the very same sentance.
Gees, you guys flip-flop like Kerry:p :toothless |
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| fastmp3 |
| youpus stop manipulating people :toothless he still is a war criminal looking to save his ass |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by fastmp3
youpus stop manipulating people :toothless |
All stop as soon as you all admit that you were all wrong about Sharon and I was right (I assume his is never going to happen). :D
| quote: | | he still is a war criminal looking to save his ass |
Haha, fair enough. But of course Rabin was a war criminal too...
And Sharon is old and rich, he doesn't need politics. He can do much more relaxing things with his time if he didn't believe in what he does. |
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| Flotser |
finnaly a new israli-palestinian thread!!
don't tell me you didnt miss them!!
We WaNt MoRe So FlOtSeR WiLl HaVe ThInGs To Say HeRe!
:crazy: |
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| Cyrus King |
Israel should get the out regardless of Sharon's backing. No Israel should leave the west bank.
But there are too many greedy zionists. Oh well.. the arabs are going to consume the population in 30 years anyway!:)
oh yeah... if the settlers are succesful in assassinating Sharon, it would be so good.. its like killing two birds with one stone, becuase in the end, the settlers are also ing themselves over! |
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| malek |
30 years??
nah make it 15 :p |
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