Saturday, May 21, 2011
The science 'X Factor' with a 1bn euro prize
The science 'X Factor' with a 1bn euro prize
ADVERTISEMENT
Israel PM defiant over Obama border proposals
Israel PM defiant over Obama border proposals
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejects pre-1967 border agreement call
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Barack Obama's call for peace with the Palestinians based on pre-1967 borders.
After tense talks at the White House, a defiant Mr Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to compromise but there could be no peace "based on illusions".
Mr Obama, who formally adopted the principle on Thursday, admitted there were "differences" between the views.
But he said such differences were possible "between friends".
In his speech to the state department on Thursday, Mr Obama stated overtly for the first time that the peace talks should be based on a future Palestinian state within the borders in place before the 1967 Middle East War.
"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states," he said.
This proposal has been a key demand of the Palestinians in the negotiations.
But speaking in the Oval Office after their meeting, Mr Netanyahu flatly rejected this proposal, saying Israel wanted "a peace that will be genuine".
"We both agree that a peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle Eastern reality, and that the only peace that will endure is one that is based on reality, on unshakeable facts."
'Demographic changes'Israel was "prepared to make generous compromises for peace", he said, but could not go back to the 1967 borders "because these lines are indefensible".
Continue reading the main story 
“Start Quote
The Israeli prime minister couldn't be clearer: At the moment there is no basis for new talks and he won't buy the president's plans”
He said the old borders did not take into account the "demographic changes that have taken place over the last 44 years".
An estimated 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements built in the Palestinian West Bank, which lies outside those borders.
The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Mr Obama said there were obviously "some differences" in the "precise formulations and language" used by Israel and the US, but that this "happens between friends".
He did not bring up the matter of the borders in his joint conference with Mr Netanyahu.
But he said Palestinians faced "tough choices" following the recent reconciliation deal between Fatah, which runs the West Bank, and Hamas, which governs Gaza and still denies Israel's right to exist.
Mr Obama said true peace could only occur if Israel was allowed to defend itself against threats.
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says that while notion of a peace agreement based on 1967 lines is not news, Mr Obama has clearly angered Mr Netanyahu by formally adopting it.
Mr Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure as world figures and organisations, including American's partners in the Middle East Peace Quartet, EU, UN and Russia - lined up to back Mr Obama's position.
Arab League chief, Amr Moussa, also called on President Obama to remain committed to the plan.
But in the absence of a viable peace process, it is unclear what will come of US-Israel talks, says our correspondent.
Source
~~~~~~~~~~~
Commentary
I'm glad that at least there is a clear cut position and that Israel is being confronted on all sides by this logical first step for peace.
There is no alternative at this point for any Palestinian state to exist without the 1967 borders.
Such a state would be a crippled West Bank and Gaza, a shadow of Palestine's former self. That's why such a deal is unacceptable to the Palestinian people and even to the weak boned Fatah.
At the end of the day Isreal needs to remember that it truly stole all the land it currently sits on and to be speaking as if it owns claim to it all and that it decides all the terms is very proud and very haughty.
Similar situations occurred in Northern Ireland and the violence still hasn't fully disapated after years of peace talks and unneeded deaths.
A country should never steal or usurp the land of another. Injustice will always lead to pain.
The defense of innocent people and the work of justice to reclaim land rights of those it was taken from, is now what the peace talks should focus on.
Sadly I'm not optimistic about them turning to those relevant topics.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The tent that turns into concrete in less than 24 hours
The tent that turns into concrete in less than 24 hours
The past 12 months have seen a remarkable number of humanitarian crises with earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and deadly tornadoes in the southern US being among the most recent.
Among new innovations which could help relief efforts is a fabric shelter that, when sprayed with water, turns to concrete within 24 hours.
Invented by two engineers while at university, Concrete Canvas allows aid teams to construct solid structures in emergency zones quickly and easily.
Will Crawford and Peter Brewin showed BBC News how the concrete tent is put together and spoke about what inspired them.
Saudi woman seeks to put women in the driving seat
Saudi woman seeks to put women in the driving seat
Najla Hariri says there is no law against women driving, only society's convention A Saudi woman has taken to the road in a direct challenge to the country's ban on female drivers.
Najla Hariri started driving around Jeddah last week. She is believed to be the only woman regularly driving in a Saudi city.
The 45-year-old says she was inspired by the protests taking place elsewhere in the Middle East.
"Enough is enough", she told the BBC as she drove around the city. "I have the right to [drive]."
Ms Hariri holds a driving licence from both Egypt and Lebanon from her time living abroad, and also has an international licence that she uses when she drives in Europe.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Najla HaririIn this society I am a little bit brave - I am not scared”
"There is no law against women driving. It's society's [convention] that says women are not allowed to drive."
'Not scared'The mother of five has the support of her husband and says her daughters and their friends are very proud of her.
She knows, however, that she could be stopped at any moment by the police.
"In this society I am a little bit brave. I am not scared," she says.
Najla Hariri says she was inspired by the Arab Spring protests In some desert areas of Saudi Arabia, women are understood to drive occasionally, but it is virtually unheard of for a woman to take to the road in a major city.
Opponents of women driving argue that it's safer for females to have a male in the car with them, and that they are honouring their women by sparing them the strain of driving.
"They are lying to themselves," replies Ms Hariri forcefully. "It is safer for women to drive themselves. We have four million foreign drivers [in the country] and we'd like to get rid of them and drive ourselves."
Ms Hariri admits she did not want to be at the vanguard of efforts to give women more freedoms.
She returned to Saudi Arabia two years ago and was tempted to start driving immediately.
She found herself stuck at home with two cars but no driver, as her husband and eldest son were both away. "But I waited for the right time; I waited for other ladies to [go first]," she says.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Najla HaririWe are focusing on spreading the word - women here don't know their rights”
As no-one stepped forward, she has decided that now is the moment.
"Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests," she says.
"[But] after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept a group of people going outside and saying what they want in a loud voice, and this has had an impact on me."
Facebook campaignNajla Hariri's challenge to Saudi society is part of a wider effort for greater female participation in the whole of society.
A Facebook page is encouraging women to come out and drive on 17 June.
Other women are pushing for the right to vote in municipal elections scheduled for September, while there are also calls for women to get permission to sign legal documents.
Aalia, a 19-year-old university student, is co-ordinating some of the online reform efforts.
"We are focusing on spreading the word, raising public awareness," she says. "Women here don't know their rights."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Commentary
Lets look at the middle east a second, shall we. So there are sanctions from Iraq to the western shores of Africa in the Ivory coast. Sanctions for human rights and a number of other issues.
But when it comes to Saudi Arabia.... where are the sanctions America?
Where are the sanctions on human rights in the one place they are threatened the most?
When a woman has virtually no rights in a country run by the dangerously extreme Wahabbi sect, why does no one in America speak up?
Right now Syria is being sanctioned for what it's doing to it's protestors, and yet Saudi does it on a daily basis to every woman in it's borders. Why the double standards?
Oh yea, i forgot.... Oil.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)