Colin Powell's Speech on Mideast Lacks Substance

<strong>Powell's Speech on Mideast Short of Substance</strong><br><br>
Daily Tehran, Nov 27, IRNA:<br><br>`Iran Daily' on Tuesday warned Palestine not to be taken in with the recent speech of US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the Middle East since it contained virtually nothing new.
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It is essential that "any proposed settlement or new American ideas be in full harmony with human rights and international law, and not a mere reflection of the scandalously lopsided balance of power between an occupied people and Israel, the bastion of insolence and imperialism in the region," stressed the English-language daily.<br><br>
Powell who spelled out the Bush Administration's "vision" for a final and comprehensive peace between Palestinians and the Zionist occupying power, was indeed "short of substance", it added.<br><br>The Zionist regime, headed by a known war criminal must have been relieved to hear that Powell placed the onus on the Palestinians for ending "violence and terror", while gently and hesitatingly asking the Zionist entity to reconsider its occupation policies and the repression of the Palestinian people, hit out the paper. <br><br>
It warned that Ariel Sharon does not want peace with the Palestinians but rather believes in tearing the West Bank into pieces.<br><br> Addressing the Palestinian leadership, which hastily welcomed Powell's speech calling it "historical" and "representing a turning point" in US policy toward Palestine, the paper berated the Palestinians and asked: "What really makes you think that the statement was historical or representing a turning point in American policy?<br><br>It must be borne in mind that Powell did not call for the total withdrawal of the Israeli occupation troops from the West Bank, East Beit-ul-Moqaddas, and Gaza Strip, nor did he say "unequivocally and unmistakably (as, indeed, he reiterated America's traditional iron-clad commitment to Israel's security and well-being) that the mushrooming settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are illegal and ought to be dismantled."<br><br>Palestinians must take note of the fact that Powell did not say anything about the "viable Palestinian State" beyond what Sharon the criminal had been saying, neither did he ever mention that the miserable refugees dumped into squalid and wretched camps for 53 years, should return to their original homes and villages from which they were expelled at gunpoint.<br><br>In view of these facts, "why the euphoria, the rhapsody, the unfounded hopes?" it asked. Indeed, "are the Palestinians in a position to re-enact the Oslo jolt once again?" questioned the daily. It is essential therefore, that "we adamantly refuse a replay of the disastrous Oslo nightmare," warning that "one was more than enough," concluded the paper.
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