Annapolis Conference

For the revolutionary legislature of the Colony of Maryland, see Annapolis Convention (1774-1776).

For the meeting that resulted in the United States Constitutional Convention, see Annapolis Convention (1786)

The Annapolis Conference was a Middle East peace conference held on November 27, 2007, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The conference marked the first time a two-state solution was articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties.

Contents 1 Attendees 2 Objectives and background 3 Positions 3.1 Americans 3.2 Palestinian 3.3 Israeli 4 Opening 5 Reaction 5.1 Analysis 5.2 Protests and boycotts 5.3 Support 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Attendees

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice organized and hosted the conference. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and U.S. President George W. Bush attended the meeting.^[1] A partial list of over 40 invitees was released on November 20, 2007, including China, the Arab League, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations;^[2] most of whom accepted the invitation.

[edit] Objectives and background

Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Arab–Israeli conflict series
Israeli–Palestinian Peace Process
Israel       West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights a
Negotiating Parties
Israel	Palestine
History
Camp David Accords · Madrid Conference Oslo Accords / Oslo II · Hebron Protocol Wye River / Sharm el-Sheikh Memoranda 2000 Camp David Summit · Taba Summit Road Map · Annapolis Conference
Primary Negotiation Concerns
Final borders  · Israeli settlements  · Refugees (Jewish, Palestinian Arab)  · Security concerns Status of Jerusalem  · Water
Secondary Negotiation Concerns
Antisemitic incitements Israeli West Bank barrier · Jewish state Palestinian political violence Places of worship
Current Leaders
Mahmoud Abbas Salam Fayyad	Shimon Peres Benjamin Netanyahu
International Brokers
Diplomatic Quartet ( )
Arab League ( )  ·  ·
Other Proposals
Arab Peace Initiative · Elon Peace Plan Lieberman Plan · Geneva Accord · Hudna Israel's unilateral disengagement plan Israel's realignment plan Peace-orientated projects · Peace Valley  · Isratin · One-state solution · Two-state solution · Three-state solution · Middle East economic integration
Major projects, groups and NGOs
Peace-orientated projects · Peace Valley  · Alliance for Middle East Peace · Aix Group · Peres Center for Peace
^a The Golan Heights are not part of the Israeli-Palestinian process.
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The objectives of the conference were in an attempt to produce a substantive document on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along the lines of President George W. Bush's Roadmap For Peace, with the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state. A draft document was leaked by Haaretz on November 17, 2007,^[3] with the final and forthcoming Annapolis Joint Declaration expected to outline the scope of what will eventually be final peace talks.^[4]

President Abbas and P.M. Olmert had been meeting repeatedly since June 2007 to try and agree on some basic issues ahead of the summit.^[5]

A final round of discussions between Olmert and Abbas was held in Washington D.C. on November 26, 2007, the day prior to the conference.

The conference on November 27, 2007, took place approximately 30 years after Anwar El Sadat, president of Egypt, visited Israel on November 19, 1977 to sign a peace agreement.^[6] and appoximately 60 years after the newly-created United Nations approved the UN Partition Plan (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181) on November 29, 1947, dividing Palestine (Modern day Israel and the Palestinian territories) into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. Jerusalem was to be designated an international city – a corpus separatum – administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.^[7] The Jewish community accepted the plan,^[8] but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it.^{[9][verification needed]}

[edit] Positions

[edit] Americans

Secretary Rice visited the Middle East on a four day tour of shuttle diplomacy in mid-October to shore up support for the summit,^[10] and hinted at the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities (GA), in Nashville, Tennessee on November 13, 2007, that Israelis are prepared to give up the West Bank in exchange for peace.^[11] This was Rice's 8th visit to the region during the Bush Administration.

[edit] Palestinian

Abbas stated that a clear agenda was necessary for the conference,^[12] and affirmed in early October that only a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip in their entirety would be acceptable, with any permanent Israeli control of land beyond its 1967 borders subject to discussion on a one-to-one basis.^[13] He further demanded that all six central issues be debated at the conference: Jerusalem, refugees and right of return, borders, settlements, water and security.^[14]

Abbas said that he hoped to reach an agreement with Israel by the end of November 2007,^[15] which Abbas would then put to a referendum.^[16] Furthermore, he expressed his hope that a final agreement with Israel would be possible within six months of the conference.^[17]

[edit] Israeli

In October 2007, Prime Minister Olmert indicated that he would be willing to give parts of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a broader peace settlement at Annapolis,^[18] drawing considerable criticism from right-wing Israeli and foreign Jewish organizations and Christian Zionists.^[19][20][21]

On November 27, 2007, Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, announced that his party would leave the government coalition, thereby ending the coalition's majority in the Knesset, if Ehud Olmert agreed to divide Jerusalem. Shas minister Eli Yishai explained: "Jerusalem is above all political considerations. I will not help enable concessions on Jerusalem."^[22] Olmert's ability to follow through on his earlier comments about concessions in East Jerusalem is therefore in question.

[edit] Opening

Prior to the conference, President Bush met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the White House.^[23] After meeting with Olmert and Abbas, President Bush read from a joint statement, signed by both parties, supporting a Two-State Solution. "We agreed to immediately launch good faith, bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including core issues, without exception," and that, "The final peace settlement will establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people just as Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people."^[24]

[edit] Reaction

[edit] Analysis

The Annapolis Conference differed from previous Middle East peace conferences in several respects:

• This was the first time both sides (Israeli and Palestinian) entered a conference with a common understanding that the final state of Palestinian-Israeli peace will be a two-state solution.
• This was the first time in several decades that the context of the conference did not include adversarial positions from either the United Nations or the European Union against the Israelis. Going into the conference, the U.N. and E.U. were both largely behind the U.S. effort.
• Similarly, the importance of the Quartet on the Middle East has been diminished since it was first formed. At the Annapolis Conference, the U.S. played the major mediator role, with the other three members of the original Quartet assuming lower status positions.

[edit] Protests and boycotts

Hamas and Ali Khamenei of Iran called for a boycott of the conference,^[25][26] and on November 23 Hamas held a demonstration in the Gaza Strip.^[27] In the West Bank, large demonstrations opposed to the conference were quelled heavy handedly, and demonstrators were beaten by Fatah militants.^[28] The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denounced the event, stating that it was "A political show for the media which is in Israel's interest".^[29]

On the other hand, Jewish activists and organizations opposed to Israel's concession in a peace settlement of any part of Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria became increasingly vocal against the Olmert government, with protests in front of Israeli embassies in New York and Washington D.C. during the summit.^[30] On November 27, 2007, Rabbi Dov Lior of the Yesha Rabbis Council called an "emergency meeting" in order to discuss the upcoming conference. During the meeting, Lior stated: "No leader, in any generation, has the right to give away Eretz Israel… we call on the Jews abroad, and especially on community leaders and rabbis, to join us in our efforts against this treaty and its implications... Together, we will save the people of Israel from the government's terrible plan." Lior further stated that peace would only be achieved by "[cleansing] the country of Arabs and [resettling] them in the countries where they came from."^[31] A number of large mainstream American Jewish and Christian groups joined together with a majority of Knesset to oppose any negotiation that would include altering Jerusalem's status. They formed the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem.

[edit] Support

Organizations that approved of the conference also mobilized and prepared to demonstrate their support for the summit.^[32][33] The United Nations prepared a resolution to be adopted by the Security Council on November 30, 2007, expressing support for the outcome of the conference. The resolution was withdrawn after Israel raised complaints.^[34]

[edit] See also

• One-state solution
• Two-state solution
• Three-state solution

Wikinews has related news: Statement of "joint understanding" released after Annapolis Conference Middle East peace conference begins in Annapolis, Maryland

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Wikisource has original text related to this article: Joint Understanding Read by President Bush at Annapolis Conference

[edit] References

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (September 2009)

v • d • e Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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Israel: Israel Defense Forces Israel Police Mossad Shabak Palestinians: Main: Palestine Liberation Organisation Palestinian National Authority Fatah Hamas Other: Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades DFLP Palestine Liberation Front Palestinian Islamic Jihad Palestinian Popular Struggle Front PFLP PFLP-GC Popular Resistance Committees Influence: Arab League British Mandate of Palestine (1920–48) Egypt European Union Germany France Hezbollah Iran Iraq Jordan Lebanon Libya Morocco Muslim Brotherhood Al-Qaeda Russia Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia Turkey United Kingdom United Nations United States Yemen	Israel: Moshe Arens Ami Ayalon Ehud Barak Menachem Begin Meir Dagan Avi Dichter Yuval Diskin David Ben-Gurion Ephraim Halevy Dan Halutz Tzipi Livni Golda Meir Shaul Mofaz Yitzhak Mordechai Benjamin Netanyahu Ehud Olmert Shimon Peres Yaakov Peri Yitzhak Rabin Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Yitzhak Shamir Ariel Sharon Shabtai Shavit Moshe Ya'alon Danny Yatom Zvi Zamir Palestinians: Abu Abbas Mahmoud Abbas Moussa Arafat Yasser Arafat Yahya Ayyash Marwan Barghouti Mohammed Dahlan Mohammed Deif George Habash Wadie Haddad Ismail Haniya Nayef Hawatmeh Amin al-Husayni Ghazi Jabali Ahmed Jibril Abu Jihad Salah Khalaf Leila Khaled Sheikh Khalil Khaled Mashal Zuheir Mohsen Abu Ali Mustafa Abu Nidal Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Jibril Rajoub Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi Ali Hassan Salameh Salah Shahade Ramadan Shallah Fathi Shaqaqi Ahmed Yassin	1920 Palestine riots 1921 Jaffa riots 1929 Palestine riots 1929 Hebron massacre 1936–1939 Arab revolt 1930s Irgun attacks 1947 Jerusalem riots 1948 Arab-Israeli War · 1948 war massacres · 1948 Deir Yassin massacre · 1948 Exodus from Lydda and Ramla · 1948 Hadassah medical convoy massacre · 1948 Palestinian exodus 1948-1967 Jewish exodus from Arab lands 1948-1967 Terrorist attacks against Israel The retribution operations · 1953-1955 Unit 101 1966 Samu Incident 1967 Six-Day War 1968 Battle of Karameh 1969-1970 War of Attrition 1970 Avivim school bus massacre 1970 Black September in Jordan 1972 Operation Isotope 1972 Munich massacre · 1972 Operation Wrath of God · 1972 Israeli aerial raid on Lebanon · 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon 1973 Yom Kippur War 1974 Kiryat Shmona massacre 1974 Ma'alot massacre 1975 Savoy Hotel attack 1975 Zion Square bombing 1976 Operation Entebbe 1978 Coastal Road massacre 1978 South Lebanon conflict 1980 Misgav Am attack 1982 Lebanon War · 1982 Siege of Beirut · 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre 1984 Bus 300 hijacking 1985 PLO ships bombing 1985 Operation Wooden Leg 1987 Night of the Gliders 1987–1990 Intifada · 1988 Tunis Raid · 1989 Bus 405 attack 1993–1999 Palestinian suicide attacks 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre 1994 Wachsman rescue attempt 2000–2008 Al-Aqsa Intifada · Palestinian rocket attacks (list) · Palestinian suicide attacks · Massacres during Al-Aqsa Intifada · Assassinations during Al-Aqsa Intifada 2000 October 2000 events 2001 Santorini 2002 Operation Noah's Ark 2002 Operation Defensive Shield · Battle of Jenin · Siege of Bethlehem · Battle of Nablus 2002 Operation Determined Path 2003 Abu Hassan 2003 Ain es Saheb airstrike 2004 Israel-Gaza conflict · Operation Rainbow · Operation Days of Penitence 2005 Shevet Ahim 2006 Operation Bringing Home the Goods 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict · Gaza beach explosion · Operation Autumn Clouds · Beit Hanoun shelling 2006-2007 Fatah-Hamas conflict 2007–2008 Israel-Gaza conflict · Operation Hot Winter 2007 (ongoing) Gaza Strip blockade 2008 Mercaz HaRav shooting 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack 2008–2009 Operation Cast Lead 2010 Gaza flotilla raid (ships, participants, reactions, legal)	Hussein-McMahon Correspondence Sykes-Picot Agreement Balfour Declaration White Paper of 1939 UN Partition Plan Resolution 181 Israeli Declaration of Independence UN Resolution 194 UN Resolution 242 Palestinian Declaration of Independence 1991 Madrid Conference 1993 Oslo Accords 1997 Hebron Agreement 1998 Wye River Memorandum 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum 2000 Camp David Summit 2001 Taba Summit 2002 Road map for peace Quartet on the Middle East 2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement plan 2007 Annapolis Conference Valley of Peace initiative