|
|
Friday, July 22, 2005
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
|
Rice to Sharon: Back to ‘road map’ after pullout
Condoleezza Rice told Ariel Sharon that the upcoming Gaza withdrawal must be followed by the next phase in the “road map” peace plan.
The U.S. secretary of state and the Israeli prime minister met Friday at Sharon’s Negev desert ranch. Israel wants to assess Palestinian efforts to dismantle terrorist groups in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal next month from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank before it recommits to the U.S.-led peace plan.
Rice agreed that dismantling terrorist groups — part of the first stage of the road map — should be a priority, but told Sharon that P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas needs support, Ha’aretz reported. The road map also requires Israel to freeze settlement activity. Rice also urged Israel to coordinate with the Palestinians ahead of the Israeli withdrawal. Rice said that after the pullout, the United States and Russia plan to convene a regional conference, partly to establish ties between Israel and Arab states, the paper said.
Sharon: Ariel to ‘expand’
Ariel Sharon said he wants to expand a West Bank settlement.
During a tour of the settlement of Ariel on Thursday, the Israeli prime minister said he wants to ensure that the small city “will be part of the State of Israel forever.”
U.S. officials and Palestinian leaders have expressed opposition to expansion of settlements in the West Bank, but Israel has argued that it can build in certain settlements, such as Ariel, that it plans to keep in any peace deal. Sharon may gain support from settler groups for expressing support for Ariel ahead of Israel’s planned withdrawal next month from settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.
Transit workers hire Israeli expert
New York’s transit workers union hired an Israeli security expert because, it said, the Metropolitan Transit Authority wasn’t doing enough to prevent terrorist attacks.
Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union hired Rafi Ron, CEO of New Age Security Solutions and a former security chief at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, to run eight-hour seminars starting this Sunday. Roger Toussaint, the local president, said the decision came because of the MTA’s alleged inaction in the wake of recent terrorist attacks on the London transit system.
“Their view of deterrence stops at bomb-sniffing dogs and well-armed cops,” Toussaint said of the MTA. “Transit has fallen down on the job.” MTA spokesmen called it a publicity stunt, saying the authority had been running a two-hour course on recognizing suspicious behavior and suspicious objects since January 2002.
JTA.org
Central American Jews lead way
as countries consider trade pact
By Brian Harris
July 21, 2005
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, July 21 (JTA) — Members of Central America’s small Jewish communities have played an uncommonly pivotal role in pushing for the approval of the United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
With the U.S. Congress on the verge of giving final approval to CAFTA, American Jewish groups that have weighed in on the issue are divided. But in Central America, the final push to make the pact a reality highlights the prominence of individual Jews in lobbying for the deal.
The agreement would eliminate import duties and quotas on the vast majority of goods that Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica trade in. The deal also includes the Dominican Republic,...
http://jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=15650&intcategoryid=2
posted by Somebody @ 9:37 PM Permanent Link
 
0 Comments:
<< Home
|
| |
