The Pa in
in Spain
has been mainly in Vain!
January 11, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains, but the pain and liquid tears from the eyes of the world were not restricted to the plains of Spain over the last 15 years, they have been falling in buckets across the landscape of the Middle East.
The following is a summary of the pain and tears that were very plain to the observers during the 15 years since the 1991 Madrid Conference.
1991, Madrid Conference
September 1993 signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles (Oslo Accords)
May 1994, Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area
September 1995, Israel and PLO signed the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II)
January 1997, the parties concluded the Hebron Agreement
October 1998, Israel and the PLO signed the Wye River Memorandum
September 1999, the Israeli Government and the PLO signed the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum
March through June 2000, Intensive working-level talks between the Israeli Government and the PLO
July 2000 Camp David meeting. Despite unprecedented Israeli proposals, Arafat rejected all and walked out
January 2001 Taba Conference. Last gasp of the Oslo process after start of the al-Aqsa intifada
After 15 years of tears stretching through the Oslo Peace Accords into 2007, another straw to be grasped is now being made available in Spain.
Real peace in the Middle East will not occur until the return of Messiah, but until then we will keep grasping at straws in the hope one of them might be instrumental in at least bringing in a temporary period of false peace. The following article by Marion Fischel in the Jerusalem Post gives details of a meeting honoring the 1991 Madrid Conference, which led the way to attempts to obtain peace in Israel, and is currently under way in Spain.
Begin Jerusalem Post Article
Arab League, Israeli Reps.
set to Meet
MARION FISCHEL, THE JERUSALEM POST
January 9, 2007
Although the peace process appears to be stuck, representatives of the Arab League, including Syria, will meet with Israeli delegates starting Wednesday at a reunion honoring the 1991 Madrid Conference.
The three-day conference in Madrid, a civil initiative inspired by the need to create an international climate favorable to facilitating the peace process, is called Madrid +15: Madrid 15 Years Later.
Organized by the Toledo International Peace Center, Search for Common Ground and the Fundacion Tres Culturas del Mediterraneo, Madrid +15 aims to identify the expectations of the parties involved and find a platform from which to launch a sustainable end to the conflict.
Emilio Cassinello, director-general of the Toledo International Peace Center, said the “key objective” of the conference was “to impart a global message that even though the present distances between the positions of the parties involved in the Near East crisis are unbridgeable, they are not unsalvageable, and that the positions should and must be brought closer.”
The current conference will be attended by a team of eight representatives from the Palestinian Authority headed by Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan; 11 Israeli representatives including former foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and former head of Military Intelligence Uri Saguy; a European contingent including the foreign ministers of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
and former French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine, as well as former Spanish president Felipe Gonzalez and EU high representative for common and security policy, Javier Solana.
Russia, the UN, the Arab League, the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf, Syria and Saudi Arabia will also be represented, as will the US, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
Cassinello will be one of the moderators at a Wednesday session entitled “How to Influence Policy.” Other working sessions on that day will concentrate individually on Lebanon-Israel, Palestine-Israel and Syria-Israel issues.
On Friday the four working sessions will report to a chair presided by Royal Counselor Andre Azoulay and Regional Minister of the Presidency of Andalucia Gaspar Zarrias – both members of the Fundacion Tres Culturas del Mediterraneo.
Following that, the “Middle East Working Session: A Regional Approach”, will be moderated by Marc Otte, EU special representative for the Middle East peace process, and will include Terje Roed-Larsen, president of the International Academy for Peace and former special coordinator to the Middle East peace process and Hans Blix, former Swedish foreign minister.
According to Cassinello, a peace initiative is to be found somewhere among all the previous attempts, including the Oslo Accords, the road map, Clinton’s parameters and the Saudi initiative supported by the Arab League.
“Recent initiatives and political proposals emphasize the need for a regional focus with international support in the spirit of the peace conference held in Madrid in 1991,” he said.
After an audience with Spanish King Juan Carlos I, the opening dinner of Madrid +15 will take place Wednesday evening at the Santa Cruz Palace, hosted by the governments of Spain, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will give the welcoming address.
End Jerusalem Post Article
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