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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Powell: US Will Push Israelis, Palestinians to Reach Peace
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that his country will push Israelis and Palestinians to reach peace.
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US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that his country will push
Israel
is and Palestinians to reach peace.
Speaking at University of Louisville in Kentucky, Powell renewed his call for a reduction in Middle East violence, urging both Israel and Palestine to face up to the truth about what they must do to end tensions and live as neighbors.
Powell called on Palestinian leaders to "arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts."
"The Palestinian leadership must make a 100 percent effort to end violence and terror," he said. "There must be real results, not just words and declarations."
Powell said Palestinian-led violence only defeats the objective of reaching any beginning point to peace negotiations and feeds Israeli doubts about whether they really want peace.
Israelis must do their part, Powell said, adding that too many Palestinians have grown up "with checkpoints, raids and indignities."
"Israel must be willing to end its occupation," Powell said, referring to the land the Arabs lost in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel's construction of settlements on the West Bank and Gaza was crippling chances for peace, he said.
Powell set out a vision of Middle East where Israel and a new state of Palestine live side by side in peace.
"America has a positive vision for the region, a vision that we want to share with our friends in Israel and in the Arab world. We have a vision of a region where Israelis and Arabs can live together in peace, security and dignity, he said.
"We have a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders ... a region where all people have jobs that let them put bread on their tables, provide a roof over their heads and offer a decent education to their children," Powell said.
The U.S. secretary said that he will send an envoy to the Middle East in a bid to restart stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace moves.
Williams Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, will return to the region and retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni has agreed to serve as senior adviser to the assistant secretary, he said.
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