ProphecyNewsWatch

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Jordan Valley may be hurdle in peace talks
Israelis, Palestinians each stake claim to section of West Bank

The backhoes are busy on housing plots for this new Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley, and young families, under army guard and toting M-16s, have begun cultivating dozens of acres of land with dates, olives and other crops.

To the south, a water pipeline from Jerusalem has let veteran farmers double the land irrigated for date trees to 9,000 acres, with a second pipeline and more farmland expansion planned.

As the United States tries to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the Jordan Valley is emerging as a key point of contention: Palestinians envision it as a core part of a future Palestinian state, and Israeli officials forcefully assert a longstanding claim that control over the area is vital to their security.

The new settlement of Maskiot and the expansion of farmland are just two tangible signs of tension over the area. When Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad issued a two-year development plan, he said he wanted to place a Palestinian-controlled airport in the Jordan Valley, and he recently said that any state that does not include it would be "Mickey Mouse."

Israeli officials and others close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have been saying that the Jordan Valley should remain in Israeli hands, encircling any Palestinian state to the east and controlling the international border with Jordan -- steps needed, they say, to make sure militant groups don't infiltrate.

Fayyad - at a recent news conference in which he spoke in detail about what he sees as a developing fight with Israel over "Area C" --

That includes the Jordan Valley, an area that Fayyad has cited as a vital economic and logistical resource for a future state. Along with agriculture and tourism, the Jordan Valley -- which includes the Dead Sea and its potential for resort and mineral development --

During one of Netanyahu's visits to Maskiot, "he said clearly -- the Jordan Valley remains in Israeli hands in every future negotiation,"...

Full Article Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

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Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Two-Year Path to Palestinian Statehood:
August 2009.2 Fayyad's stated intention is to dedicate the next 24 months until 2011 to building physical infrastructure, public institutions, public services, and tax incentives for foreign investors. These state-building assets would anchor a viable de facto state throughout the West Bank including areas that, in line with signed agreements between Israel and the PLO at Oslo, fall under Israeli control, such as the hills that overlook Jerusalem and Israel's coastal cities to the west, as well as the strategically important Jordan Valley to the east.

Western Support for the Fayyad Plan
Fayyad's unilateral Palestinian state program has already earned the broad backing of the UN, the Quartet, and European leaders, as well as the Obama administration. The Quartet issued a joint statement on September 24, 2009, that "welcomes the Palestinian Authority's plan for constructing the institutions of the Palestinian state within 24 months as a demonstration of the PA's serious commitment to an independent state." On September 22, 2009, Tony Blair, the Middle East Quartet Special Envoy, hosted the UN Ad Hoc Liaison Committee on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where donor nations promised $400 million to the PA by the end of 2009. Blair has characterized Fayyad's performance as "absolutely first class - professional, courageous, intelligent." Norway's foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Store, a committee member, praised donor support of the Fayyad plan as "an investment in a political project." UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry has also publicly backed the Fayyad plan. In fact, on July 12, 2009, Javier Solana, the European Union's top diplomat, reportedly called on the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state even without a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He said the UN "would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation."

While the U.S. administration has not officially announced explicit support for Fayyad's state project, President Barack Obama has also envisioned a two-year path to Mideast peace. There are other indications of support as well. Shortly after the plan's publication in August, the Obama administration announced a $20 million grant to back the effort. A few weeks earlier, the U.S. Congress approved a $200 million deposit into the PA treasury, which falls under Fayyad's direct control. Washington also committed $109 million in 2009 to finance an expanded, U.S.-backed training program for the PA security forces that since 2005 have been under Fayyad's control, under the close supervision of U.S. Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton. JCPA.org

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Fayyad's approach collides with Fatah's traditional platform of "armed struggle" to "liberate Palestine" using "all options" available, as confirmed at the recent Fatah Congress. Fayyad's program also contradicts the Fatah Congress' reaffirmation of a "one-state" solution in the event that negotiations over a "two-state" solution fail.

Fayyad's political rivals, such as Tawfiq Tirawi, Abu Maher Gneim, and Mahmud al-Alul, who support "armed resistance" against Israel and were recently elected to the new Fatah Central Committee, have already blasted Fayyad's plans as being a "governmental intifada" that contradicted the "armed struggle."

One potentially prohibitive roadblock to Fayyad's statehood plan is that it calls for a reconnection of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to the Fatah-ruled West Bank. Hamas officials labeled him a "traitor" and promised an "earthquake" of a response

The Fateful 2010 Palestinian Elections
Fayyad has launched his state-building plan as his opening gambit for the scheduled elections in January 2010, when the terms of Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Legislative Council are due to expire. Since Fayyad now serves as Abbas' appointed prime minister, he will be able to advance his state-building project and unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood in 2011 only if he wins by a landslide either in a bid for the presidency or as a newly-elected prime minister. Fayyad has already hit the campaign trail,.. JCPA.org