7/30 Links Part 1: Peace Talks Begin, Indyk’s Doubts, Prisoner Release Reactions

From Ian:

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Israel-Palestine: Nine months of talks, but will there be a baby?

Mr Obama needs to realise that he won't carve his niche in history by solving the unsolvable. The Israelis and Palestinians remain as far apart as ever on the core final status issues. Borders, refugees, Jerusalem and security are the four eternal and unresolvable agenda items and the distance between today's negotiators is as wide as it has ever been.
The Palestinians (and the EU!) are insisting that a Palestinian state's border follows a non-existent and irrelevant cease-fire line from 64 years ago; no-one realistically expects Israel to receive the several million Palestinian "refugees" into a Jewish state; East Jerusalem, never the capital of anyone other than Israel and logistically impossible to separate from the rest of the city, will never be given up by Israel; and who really wants to see a second Palestinian enclave taken over by Hamas so they can threaten my aircraft the next time I fly into Tel Aviv?
If this next nine months goes anywhere, it is most likely to be to a realisation that a two-state solution is just not going to happen. Unfortunately, however, this outcome has the potential for an even bigger disaster. Sky News' Tim Marshall, in my view the most balanced TV journalist around when it comes to Israel and the Middle East, commented Monday morning that the failure of these talks could lead to two highly negative outcomes.

Indyk Last Year: 'Hard to Believe' Peace Deal Can be Reached

IDF Radio has broadcast a recording of an interview with Indyk in which he was asked about the chances such talks would succeed.
“I'm not particularly optimistic,” he answered, “because I think that the heart of the matter is that the maximum concession that this government of Israel would be prepared to make, fall far short of the minimum requirements that Abu Mazen will insist on. Though it may be possible to keep the talks going, which is a good thing, I find it very hard to believe that they will reach an agreement.”

Negotiating lessons, in Martin Indyk’s own words

Martin Indyk, the former two-time US ambassador to Israel named Monday as US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, in 2009 published a fascinating account of his personal experiences as a US diplomat at the heart of the Middle East peace process, entitled “Innocent Abroad.”
Throughout his book, he provides glimpses into his own personal beliefs, and he concluded with prescriptions for future negotiators and American diplomats. The various parties might want to read and internalize some of Indyk’s own words, as the negotiations get going again:

Oren: Israel will demand recognition as Jewish state

Israel’s ambassador to the US Michael Oren told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday that Israel is “predicated on having a Jewish majority,” and that any final-status agreement with the Palestinians will require their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
“It means the Jewish state is permanent and legitimate,” said Oren of such recognition, adding, “We’re not asking the Palestinians to do it upfront.”

Ex-Mossad Head: Peace Talks were Bungled

"This should have been handled differently,” he explained. “We should have conducted secret negotiations with the Arab League, and only then begun open negotiations with the PA. The problem of Jerusalem, for instance, is not a PA problem but a problem of the entire Arab world. At least two states, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, need to be brought on board, in order to give backing to any move.”

Peace talks arrive in the Knesset

For the first time, parliamentary caucus to host a delegation of PA officials for a gathering in support of renewed negotiations
The caucus will welcome the Palestinian officials by placing Palestinian flags alongside Israeli flags in the Knesset’s Galil Auditorium, according to organizers. The meeting may become the first time in the Knesset’s history that the two flags share a room within the parliament’s walls.
The visit also marks the first time Palestinian Authority officials have agreed to visit the Knesset, a move Palestinian leaders have avoided in the past because they feared it would constitute an implicit acknowledgement of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, the organizers added.

Abbas pledges: There will be no Israelis in Palestine

Even as talks for a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace got off to a cautious start in Washington Monday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Egypt that no Israelis would be allowed to remain in a future Palestinian state.
“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli — civilian or soldier — on our lands,” Abbas said following a meeting with interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour in Cairo.

Snag in Israel-PA Peace Talks

After a three-year hiatus, negotiations were set to resume in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, with two representatives from each side to meet at the table for direct talks, supported by the U.S.
But the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) called the initiative a “unilateral move” by Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The PFLP claimed the agreement to negotiate did not have unanimous backing from the entire PLO, since its own faction rejects the move.

Israeli Appeasement

Nothing does more to abet terrorism than the release of terrorists for their gruesome crimes. In 1985 Israel released 1,150 prisoners for 3 captured Israelis. Fifteen years later it released 450 prisoners for 3 Israeli bodies and a kidnapped Israeli. In 2008 it released 5 Arab prisoners (including Samir al-Kuntar, convicted for the hideous murder of a father in front of his four-year-old daughter, whose skull Kuntar then crushed against a rock) for two Israeli bodies. Two years ago, 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released for Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. None of these releases led to peace; only to more terrorism.

Indy posts, then deletes, reference to Palestinian terrorists as ‘political prisoners’

We contacted Indy editors shortly after the post, and, in addition to providing the data we secured from the Justice Ministry on the prisoners and their crimes, noted that even the Guardian (following our complaint) had corrected a story in April which originally contained the false description of the prisoners as “political prisoners”. Though the Indy has yet to respond to our complaint, there was recently an indication that such a correction may be forthcoming.

What does the mother of a ‘pre-Oslo’ monster look like?

The mother is rejoicing over the possible release of her son, a Palestinian (presumably seen in the photo she’s holding) alternately known as Abu Moussa Salam Ali Atiya who murdered an Israeli named Isaac Rotenberg in 1994. Whilst the Indy caption doesn’t include a word about the crimes of Ateya Abu Moussa or background on his victim, fortunately Almagor Murder Victims Association provides further details:
Ateya Abu Moussa murdered Rotenberg as a condition of being accepted into a terrorist organization.
Isaac Rotenberg survived a Nazi extermination camp but was murdered by a (soon to be free) loathsome terrorist spawned by the woman ‘sensitively’ depicted in a photo carefully selected by Indy editors.

Koby Mandell Foundation protests freeing terrorists

“My son Koby Mandell was murdered 12 years ago near our home, and his murderers have not been found. And I have to tell you that that’s a relief. In all likelihood, if they had not already been released, they’d be released now. In fact, my other son wrote an article thanking the government for not finding his brother’s killers,” said Seth Mandell, founder of the Koby Mandell Foundation, at a Monday evening demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Op-Ed: It Pays to Mutilate Jewish Children

Arab torture and terrorism work. And the mutilation of Jewish families led to political gains. There is no other logical conclusion we can draw after Israel decided to free dozens of monsters who in the pre Oslo era killed hundreds of Jews. Terrorism has been a winning strategy for Arab irredentism.
First of all, the Jews killed by Palestinians are treated as second class victims by global and humanitarian organizations, by the robber barons of The Hague international Court, by the mainstream media and by the Israeli establishment itself. It is as though these Jews have never existed. Their blood has been shed for nothing.

A triumph for terror

They murdered men and women because they were Jewish, stabbed 13-year-old kids and firebombed Israeli buses and cars. They hurled grenades at Israeli civilians, kidnapped, tortured and killed young soldiers, and assaulted and slew the elderly, including a Holocaust survivor.
These are just a few of the 104 Palestinian prisoners the government magnanimously decided to release on Sunday as part of the resumption of talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Chalk up yet another triumph for the terrorists.

Terrorists Lob Rocket at Israel, No One Hurt

Terrorists fired a rocket Tuesday morning from Hamas-controlled Gaza into southern Israel, as “peace talks” between the Palestinian Authority and Israel began in Washington.
The rocket exploded in an empty area within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. No one was hurt and no damage was reported.
Similar attacks took place July 21 and July 18.