Annan Says Israel Must Give 'Nearly All Of The Territory'

Yahoo ^ | Wed Nov 13, 3:58 PM ET | Barry Schewied

[.577 Tyrannosaur]

Annan calls Israel an expropriator of Arab land, says it must give up "nearly all of the territory" for peace

Wed Nov 13, 3:58 PM ET By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) denounced Israel as an expropriator of Arab land and said it must give up "nearly all of the territory" for peace with the Arabs.

Annan, in a speech at the University of Maryland, also accused the Israeli government of imposing "condition upon condition" to block peace negotiations.

Palestinian farmers have been shot dead by extremist settlers intent on robbing them of their olive harvest and are trying to drive them off the land to which the Palestinians are entitled, Annan said Wednesday.

The tone was different at the State Department. Spokesman Richard Boucher said he did not have "any particular comment" on the biggest Israel sweep on the West Bank in months.

Responding to the slaying of five Israelis, troops stormed into Nablus, a hotbed of militants, with dozens of tanks and and armored vehicles and rounded up 30 suspected terrorists.

Boucher condemned the slaying of the Israelis and said Israel has a right to defend itself and to take action against terrorists.

At the same time, the U.S. official said Israel should be careful not to harm civilians.

And at the White House, Deputy Spokesman Scott McClellan sidestepped questions on Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (news - web sites)'s statement in Jerusalem that he would expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) if Netanyahu is elected prime minister in January.

McClellan said the administration would not step into internal Israeli political issues. "We recognize that there are elections upcoming in Israel, and the United States has a long policy of not getting involved in those internal, domestic discussions that are going on within Israel," he said.

Annan, who met with President George W. Bush (news - web sites) later at the White House, drew applause from students assembled in a university field house as he repeatedly criticized Israel and its policies.

The secretary-general's speech marked the 25th anniversary next week of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem that led to a peace treaty in 1979 in which Egypt recovered all the land it had lost in the 1967 Mideast war.

Annan said the United Nations (news - web sites) never would permit the destruction of Israel.

"It was to prevent such things from happening that the United Nations was founded," he said.

Terror attacks have caused Israelis to lose faith in the Palestinians' will to have peace, Annan said.

And, he said, as a result, Israelis support "draconian security measures" against the Palestinians that Annan said have pushed more than 1 million people below the poverty line.

"The Palestinians are just as firmly attached to their land as Israelis are to theirs," Annan said. But they "have lost faith in in the Israeli will to peace," he said.

[.577 Tyrannosaur]

Damn... I always knew Kofi was stupid, but I never thought he was THAT stupid. By the way, what makes him think he can dictate policy to Israel? (...Or to the US, for that matter...)

[princess leah]

GO SHOVE IT UP YOURS, KoFI you pretencious little twit!

[rintense]

What the heck has he been smoking???? There is NO WAY this will EVER happen.

Screw the UN!

[Redcloak]

So when will we be seeing ol' Kofi volunteering to strap on an explosive belt?

[jdege]

Israel should give up every square foot of the Mandate that is not a part of Israel.

That is, everything east of the River Jordan.

[teletech]

OK, well, that's it then. KOFI HAS SPOKEN! I guess Israel has no choice in the matter. /sarcasm

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Kofi Annan is a WMD. A Wimp with Much Delusion.

[Cicero]

Kofi Annan was clinton's pick for Secretary General. He can speak this way because unfortunately almost every state in the UN is antisemitic and anti-Israel. I agree that it's disgusting, but it's also very Politically Correct.

It looks as if the UN may not be salvageable. They devote most of their energies to Population Planning, which means condom distribution, forced sterilization, and abortion.

[sheik yerbouty]

He is Kofi Anus. I guess that also makes him "Famous Anus".

[redhawk]

I have a better idea Kofi, get the Pali squatters out of
Israel.

[eclectic]

This Kofi is stale

[Frohickey]

McClellan said the administration would not step into internal Israeli political issues. "We recognize that there are elections upcoming in Israel, and the United States has a long policy of not getting involved in those internal, domestic discussions that are going on within Israel," he said.

Actually, McClellan should have said "We recognize that there are elections upcoming in Israel, and this administration has a policy of not getting involved in those internal domestic discussions. Unlike the Clinton administration which tried to smear Bibi and install Ehud Barak."

[Frohickey]

Damn... I always knew Kofi was stupid, but I never thought he was THAT stupid. By the way, what makes him think he can dictate policy to Israel? (...Or to the US, for that matter...)

Remember, Kofi holds at least 10 outstanding unpaid parking tickets in New York City...

[dennisw]

I would love to see the full text of this UN scumbag's speech.

[richardtavor]

See the following reply that I made regarding "Land for Peace"--the land does not belong to the Arabs!

A fence won't work--because it is all a title problem. The Arabs believe (fanatically) that all of Israel (and the rest of the world) belong to them because Ishmael (first born son of Abraham) is the rightful heir to the lands. Ishmael was the father of all of the Arab nations. If you have read the Koran, it is considered a sin to ever give any land to non-muslims. Therefore, they can't allow the Jews to exist. The Torah tells us that G-d gave all of the land of Israel to the Jews through Abraham's second son Issac. Therefore, any orthodox believing Jew can't give "Land for Peace." A fence would be giving that land to the Palestinians in exchange for peace--this will never happen. Only G-d will settle this question, for it is he that owns the land. Mitzna is part of the Left in Israel and thinks like Peres, Ben Elieazar and others, that thier brilliant diplomacy will save the day. Peres still belives that Oslo will work, because he can never admit that he and the Terrorist did not deserve the Nobel Peach Prize. The interesting thing is to talk to someone with the organization of Gush Shalom (Peace Now.) They believe, like Pelosi and the liberals that you should just give them whatever they want, and they will go away. Also interesting is that Gush Shalom and their misquided souls are supporting the Yale Divesture from Israel campaign, and they believe that Israel does not deserve the land. I also believe that they are funded by the PA (as the YDFIC is.)

[Highest Authority]

It's time for Coffee Anus to "hit the bricks"! That idiot has outstayed his usefulness, not that there ever was some!

[RicocheT]

Why do we allow U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to roam around our country? He should be limited to the area of lower Manhattan just like we did with the Soviet Russian diplomats during the Cold War. We are at war and Kofi is in the enemy camp.

[monkeyshine]

Annan is a simpleton.

[islander-11]

Time to move the U.N. headquarters out of New York to a place more in tune with the U.N.'s line of thinking. How about... Zimbabwe. Or Syria. Or North Korea.

Uncle Sam to Koffi - You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here...