Briefs: Peace Talks May Resume Soon

Benjamin Netanyahu told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Israel plans to renew peace talks with the Palestinians soon.

Israel’s prime minister met with Mubarak in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik Monday morning after greeting Pope Benedict XVI at Ben-Gurion International Airport upon his arrival in Israel.

“We want, as soon as possible, to resume the peace talks with the Palestinians, and I hope they will indeed resume in the coming weeks,” Netanyahu told a joint news conference following the meeting.

Netanyahu said Israel’s peace with Egypt “withstood all the tests of time, and as far as we’re concerned, and I know that for Egypt, too, it is a strategic asset, a cornerstone of the stability and hope in the region.”

Mubarak added that the three-decade peace between the two countries has “proven that peace is not impossible.”

Mubarak said he and Netanyahu raised important issues during their talks, “including the settlements and the threat they pose to peace. We also spoke of the need for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that will exist alongside Israel in peace and security.”

Mubarak told reporters that the leaders also discussed strengthening the Israel-Hamas cease-fire and opening up the Gaza border crossings, which he said would lead to a prisoner exchange to bring home kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Obama Picks Egypt for Speech
President Obama chose Egypt to deliver a major address to the world’s Muslims.

Obama said after his election in November that he planned to make such a speech to show Muslims that the United States was extending its hand in friendship after years of tension in the wake of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The White House announced May 8 that Egypt would be the venue, but did not name the city.

Obama’s June 4 address, which will come during an overseas tour to include a tour of the Buchenwald concentration camp, comes as his administration plans to involve Egypt and Jordan in a major effort to press Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Study: Israeli Jews Also Blame Israel for Conflict
Many Israeli Jews reject the idea that the Palestinians are primarily responsible for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a new study finds.

The study, funded by a grant from the International Peace Research Association Foundation, found that the collective memory of Israeli Jews in general is significantly critical of Israel’s role in the conflict, and that they have somewhat rejected the “Zionist narrative” of the conflict, which holds the Arabs/Palestinians primarily responsible for the conflict.

A total of 47 percent of Israeli Jews believe that Palestinians were expelled from Israel during the 1948 war, with 39 percent saying that “The refugees left due to fear, calls of leaders and expulsion by the Jews,” and another 8 percent saying the refugees left due only to expulsion by the Jews. Another 41 percent said that the refugees left “due to fear and calls of leaders to leave,” the traditional “Zionist narrative.”

Some 46 percent believe that Israel and the Palestinians are equally responsible for the outbreak and continuation of the conflict, while 4 percent blame only the Jews. Some 43 percent primarily blame the Palestinians.

In a question about who bears responsibility for the outbreak of the 1987 intafada, 23.6 percent of respondents said it was “Mainly natural hatred towards Israel,” and another 17.2 percent said it was “somewhat due to hatred.” Some 32 percent responded that the 1987 intafada was caused “More or less equally due to hatred and other reasons (such as unwillingness to be controlled and harsh treatment by Israel).”

Rafi Nets-Zehngut, an Israeli, a fellow at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College of Columbia University, and Daniel Bar-Tal, a faculty member at the School of Education at Tel Aviv University, conducted the study last summer.

The survey, conducted by the Dialog Israeli center for public opinion research, reached a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jews. The questions in the survey examined the collective memory regarding 25 major issues associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the late 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century.

“The fact that we found this memory of the conflict to be somewhat critical, even though the conflict is still going on, is encouraging,” Nets-Zehngut said. “It suggests that the Israeli-Jewish society has changed to become more critical, open and self-reflective, allowing it to adopt less biased narratives.”

Briefs courtesy Jewish Telegraphic Agency.