Since Joe Biden blurted out his support for same-sex marriage nearly a year ago, 23 U.S. Senators have formally endorsed it in statements or interviews.
These "I now support same-sex marriage" statements have a certain mechanical poetry. The speaker is admitting that at some previous point, he or she did not. I think the penal implications of flip-flopping have been sufficiently lamented, but let's at least acknowledge the point: These are politicians going out of their way to emphasize that they have changed their minds.
Some go further than others. Claire McCaskill wrote a four-paragraph blog post that meditated on the difficulties of the decision and called on Corinthians for an assist. When South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson issued his reversal on Monday, he did so in 37 words that begin: "After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation."
It's easy to find common themes running through these messages. McCaskill, Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and Tom Carper, D-Del., all cite the influence of conversations with their families and friends. Hagan and a few others cite their religion.
I found six themes in reading through all the statements. They are as follows, with examples:
Love is all you need. See Tom Udall, D-N.M.:
"Two people, who are committed to one another, who love one another, should not be denied the fundamental right of marriage, or the legal rights that marriage includes."
Marriage is a civil right. See Biden:
"I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties."
I've evolved. See Mark Warner, D-Va.:
"Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone."
My faith supports it. See Hagan:
"But after much thought and prayer on my part, this is ??where I am today."
It's right for Democracy. Udall again:
"Our Constitution enshrines the principle of equality ? equal rights for all."
Some of my best friends? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.:
"In talking with my children and grandchildren, it has become clear to me they take marriage equality as a given."
What follows is a list of every statement made since Biden's, including President Barack Obama's and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's, coded by which of the six major themes I found. This list does not include the 34 current senators who had already confirmed their support by the time Biden did, since they typically did so with less fanfare.
?
The "I've evolved" category is interesting not only because of the flip-flop implications. Many people are changing their minds on this subject, as pollsters discover again and again. It is not only the handful of Democratic senators who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act who seem to feel the need to emphasize that this is a phase shift. The implication, I think, is that?unlike war, health care, abortion, deficit reduction, tax hikes, a chained-CPI model of social security, Gitmo, immigration reform, assault weapon bans and climate change?unlike virtually everything else, gay marriage is one topic on which it's politically acceptable to change your mind.
Apr. 8, 2013 ? Exposure to tobacco smoke could negatively impact adolescent kidney function; this is according to a new study led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. They examined the association between exposure to active smoking and kidney function among U.S. adolescents and found the effects of tobacco smoke on kidney function begin in childhood. The results are featured in the April 2013 issue of Pediatrics.
"Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke are major health problems for adolescents, resulting in short-term and long-term adverse health effects," said Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, senior author of the study and an associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences. "In this nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents, exposure to tobacco, including secondhand smoke and active smoking, was associated with lower estimated glomerular filtration rates -- a common measure of how well the kidneys are working. In addition, we found a modest but positive association between serum cotinine concentrations, a biomarker of tobacco exposure, among first-morning albumin to creatinine ratio. These findings further support the conclusion that tobacco smoke may damage the kidneys."
Using a cross-sectional study of 7,516 adolescents ages 12 to 17, the authors assessed participant tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke through self-reported data from a home questionnaire and serum cotinine. Participants who reported having smoked "at least one day" in the last month or "at least one cigarette" in the last month, or those who had serum cotinine concentrations over 10 ng/ml were classified as active smokers. Secondhand smoke exposure was defined as non-active smokers who reported living with at least one person who smoked, or who had cotinine levels greater than or equal to 0.05 ng/ml, but less than or equal to 10 ng/ml even if they reported not living with a smoker. Participants with serum cotinine levels below 0.05 ng/ml, not living with a smoker and not smoking in the last month, were classified as unexposed to tobacco.
Earlier studies examining U.S. adolescent tobacco exposure have indicated more than 600,000 middle school students and 3 million high school students smoke cigarettes and 15 percent of non-smoking adolescents report exposure to secondhand smoke at home. Among adolescents, active smoking has been associated with increased asthma risk, reduced lung function and growth, early atherosclerotic lesions and increased cancer risk as well as premature mortality in adulthood. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is also a risk factor for several autoimmune diseases, including Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
"Small changes in the distribution of estimated glomerular filtration rate levels in the population could have a substantial impact in kidney-related illness, as it is well known for changes in blood pressure levels and hypertension-related disease. Evaluating potential secondhand smoke exposure and providing recommendations to minimize exposure should continue to be incorporated as part of children's routine medical care," noted Jeffrey Fadrowski, MD, MHS, co-author of the study and an assistant professor in Pediatric Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
"Tobacco as a chronic kidney disease risk factor is of great concern given the high prevalence of use and the chronicity that most often accompanies this exposure. Protecting young people from active smoking is essential since nearly 80 percent of adults who smoke begin smoking by 18 years of age," said Navas-Acien.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Journal Reference:
Esther Garc?a-Esquinas, Lauren F. Loeffler, Virginia M. Weaver, Jeffrey J. Fadrowski, and Ana Navas-Acien. Kidney Function and Tobacco Smoke Exposure in US Adolescents. Pediatrics, 2013 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-3201d
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) ? Serbia rejected on Monday a European Union-brokered deal for reconciliation with its former province of Kosovo ? a defiant move that could jeopardize the Balkan country's EU membership aspirations and fuel tensions in the region.
The EU had given Serbia until Tuesday to say whether it would relinquish its effective control over northern Kosovo in exchange for the start of Serbia's EU membership negotiations.
Even before the government rejection, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic ? Serbia's most powerful governing party leader who also serves as the defense minister ? said the plan is unacceptable because it does not give more autonomy to minority ethnic Serbs in Kosovo who together with Serbia reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence.
"The Serbian government cannot accept the proposed principles ... because they do not guarantee full security, survival and protection of human rights for the Serbs in Kosovo," Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said. "Such an agreement could not be implemented and would not lead to a lasting and sustainable solution."
Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, said after the eighth round of talks between Serbian and Kosovo officials last week in Brussels that she wanted a response from both sides and that the bloc's mediation was over.
Despite warnings that there will be no more EU-sponsored mediation, Vucic and the government called for more talks with the rival ethnic Albanians leaders of Kosovo.
"If there is a negative answer from (the EU), that would be bad news for Serbia, Kosovo and the EU," Vucic said. "If that happens, we would have to start thinking of what to do next.
"We don't want Serbia isolated from the world, but we have to protect our interests. It is highly important that we reach an agreement."
In a statement issued after Serbia's rejection, Ashton called on Belgrade "to make a last effort to reach an agreement, for the benefit of their people." But while she made no mention of formally extending the negotiation process, she said she hoped to lead "the discussion in the EU over the next few days in support of a real step forward by both Serbia and Kosovo towards their European future."
The rejection of the proposal could severely hamper Serbia's EU membership aspirations ? which would include millions of dollars of promised accession funds. The rejection also could lead to more tensions in the Balkans, which is still reeling from the bloody wars of the 1990s when Serbia tried to prevent the breakup of the former Yugoslav federation by force.
While some 90 countries ? including the United States and most EU nations ? have recognized Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence, it has been rejected by Serbia and ally Russia.
The most contentious issue in the talks was the status of northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs dominate the population and refuse to accept the authority of the ethnic Albanian-controlled government in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
Germany has made giving up control of Kosovo's north the key condition for the start of Serbia's EU accession negotiations.
The stumbling block in the talks was a Serbian demand that ethnic Serbs, who represent about 10 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, have their own judiciary and police force. But Kosovo officials have rejected that, saying it would be tantamount to a division of Kosovo into two separate entities.
In Serbia, there are increasing calls among nationalists that Serbia should turn to its ally Russia instead of becoming an EU member. There also are suggestions from hardliners that Serbia should use force to reoccupy Kosovo, which it surrendered after a three-month NATO bombing campaign that pushed out its troops in 1999.
Vucic, a former ultranationalist turned moderate, said a military solution is out of the question.
"I'm hearing some 'heroes' who were never brave who are giving us lessons on how we should stroll into Pristina," he said. "They should not tell us what our decisions should be."
Several hundred far-right supporters demonstrated in front of the government headquarters in Belgrade during the Cabinet session, demanding that no deal is signed with the EU and Kosovo's leaders.
___
Associated Press writer Jovana Gec contributed to this report.
FREE Download: The Future of Australian Sport Report Launched
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Canberra, 08 Apr 2013 (Source: Australian Sports Commission) ? Australians love sport. It always has been and will continue to be part of our cultural identity. From playing catch in the backyard to the Olympic and Paralympic podiums, the majority of Australians play, watch and enjoy sport.
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has partnered with Australia?s peak science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to jointly conduct research into the future of Australian sport. The sports played in Australia, as well as how and why we play them, are changing over time.
The research findings from The Future of Australian Sport report (the Report) will play an important role in shaping long-term policy, investment and strategic planning within government, the sport sector and broader community. The Report highlights six sports megatrends that may redefine the sport sector over the next 30 years.
A megatrend is defined as a major shift in environmental, social and economic conditions that will substantially alter the way people live. Megatrends occur at the intersection of multiple trends. A trend is defined as an important pattern of social, economic or environmental activity that will play out in the future.
Six megatrends have been identified within The Future of Australian Sport report, which will impact on the makeup of sport in Australia over the next 30 years.
A Perfect Fit ? Personalised sport for health and fitness
From Extreme to Mainstream ? The rise of lifestyle sports
More than Sport ? The attainment of health, community and overseas aid objectives via sport
Everybody?s Game?- Demographic, generational and cultural change
New Wealth, New Talent ? Economic growth and sports development in Asia
Tracksuits to Business Suits ? Market pressures and new business models
A Perfect Fit
Individualised sport and fitness activities are on the rise (Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport, 2010). People are fitting sport into their increasingly busy and time-fragmented lifestyles to achieve personal health objectives.
Participation rates in aerobics, running and walking, along with gym memberships, have all risen sharply over the past decade, while participation rates for many organised sports have held constant or declined (Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport, 2010). People are increasingly opting to go for a run with headphones and a music player when the opportunity arises rather than commit to a regular organised sporting event.
Expenditure on healthcare as a proportion of total expenditure has been and is forecast to continue rising (Australian Government, 2010). Australians are becoming more health conscious. We are increasingly playing sport to get fit rather than getting fit to play sport.
From Extreme to Mainstream
This megatrend captures the rise of lifestyle, adventure and alternative sports which are particularly popular with younger generations. These sports typically involve complex, advanced skills and have some element of inherent danger and/or thrill seeking. They are also characterised by a strong lifestyle element and participants often obtain cultural self-identity and self-expression through these sports. These sports are likely to attract participants through generational change and greater awareness via online content (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter).
There is strong viewer demand for extreme sports videos on the internet and television. These sports are also finding their way into the Olympic Games with the most recent addition being BMX cycling introduced at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. International associations for skateboarding and rock climbing are making substantial efforts to have these included as Olympic sports in the future.
More than Sport
The broader benefits of sport are being increasingly recognised by governments, companies and communities. Sport can help achieve mental and physical health, crime prevention, social development and international cooperation objectives (Cameron & MacDougall, 2000; Schmitz et al., 2004).
Sport for children and adults is an effective means of helping to reduce the rising rates of obesity and chronic illness. If managed appropriately, it can be an effective mechanism to help achieve social inclusion for marginalised groups and reduce crime rates. Sport can also build bridges to other countries and achieve overseas aid, peace, development and foreign policy objectives.
Everybody?s Game
Australia and other countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) face an ageing population. This will change the types of sports we play and how we play them. There are indications that Australians are embracing sport into their old age. To retain strong participation rates, sports of the future will need to cater for senior citizens. They will also need to cater for the changed cultural make-up of Australia. Australian society has become, and will continue to be, highly multicultural. Different cultures have different sporting preferences and recreation habits. Sporting organisations will be challenged with capturing the interest and involvement of diverse cultures.
New Wealth, New Talent
Population and income growth throughout Asia will create tougher competition and new opportunities for Australia both on the sports field and in the sports business environment. Asian countries are investing heavily in sports capabilities and, especially in the case of China, have rapidly improved gold medal outcomes at the Olympics over recent decades (Hong et al., 2005). As disposable incomes grow, the populations of Asian countries are becoming more interested in sport. This may create new markets for sports television, sports tourism, sports equipment, sports services and sports events.
Tracksuits to Business Suits
Market forces are likely to exert greater pressure on sport in the future. In some sports, elite athletes have had considerable pay rises and large sponsorship deals. This has not occurred in other sports (McMillan, 2011). Sports with high salaries may draw athletes away from those with lower salaries. Loosely organised community sports associations are likely to be replaced by organisations with corporate structures and more formal governance systems in light of market pressures. The cost of participating in sport is rising and this is a participation barrier for many people.
For a more detailed description of the six sports megatrends that may redefine the sport sector over the next 30 years, click here to download the Full Report.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A top executive with the owner of the Fox broadcast network on Monday threatened to convert the network to a pay-TV-only channel if Internet startup Aereo Inc. continues to "steal" Fox's over-the-air signal and sell it to consumers without paying for rights.
Anyone with an antenna can pick up a TV station's signals for free. But cable and satellite companies typically pay stations and networks for the right to distribute their programming to subscribers. Industrywide, those retransmission fees add up to billions of dollars every year.
Last week, that business was shaken after a federal appeals court issued a preliminary ruling siding with Aereo, which contends that it doesn't have to pay those fees because it relies on thousands of tiny antennas.
News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said that not being paid by Aereo jeopardizes the economics of broadcast TV, which relies on both retransmission fees and advertising.
"This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can't sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal," Carey said at the annual gathering of broadcasters, called NAB Show, in Las Vegas. "If we can't do a fair deal, we could take the whole network to a subscription model."
If realized, Carey's proposal would amount to a sea change in how Fox does business. Currently, Fox sends its signal to TV stations across the country, including 27 that it owns directly. Those stations relay Fox programming such as "Glee" and "Family Guy" for free over the airwaves in local markets and add their own local news and other programming. While most people get Fox through a pay TV provider anyway, millions of other Americans rely on the free signal coming over their own antennas.
Carey didn't explain how TV stations would be affected if Fox shut off the signals it sent to broadcasters and went straight to a pay TV model. Later, the company said in a statement that any change would occur "in collaboration with both our content partners and affiliates."
Aereo takes broadcast signals for free from the air with thousands of little antennas, recodes them for Internet use and feeds that to subscribers' computers, tablets and smartphones. Plans start at $8 a month, which is much cheaper than a cable package, though the service is mostly limited to broadcast channels.
Last week, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said that Aereo could continue its service despite a legal challenge by broadcast networks Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.
In a split ruling, the court accepted Aereo's position that having individual antennas meant that Aereo wasn't retransmitting signals. Rather, the appeals court said that Aereo enabled its subscribers to do what they already could on their own with their own antenna and video recorder.
In a separate case, broadcasters are suing a different Internet company called Aereokiller LLC. It also takes broadcast signals using mini antennas and transmits them to paying customers. That case is now before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Gordon Smith, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, was interviewing Carey onstage when he made the comments. Smith said he hopes that the courts will eventually rule against Aereo and force it to get in line with other pay TV operators.
"We think in the end, we'll be on the right side of the law and we will never get to the 'what-if' scenarios," Smith said.
Smith said he hopes that a different ruling at the 9th Circuit will prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to take over the matter.
Ultimately, Congress could step in and update a cable law governing retransmission fees. It was passed in 1992, before the world even had a commercial Web browser let alone viable Internet video technology.
Aereo, backed by billionaire Barry Diller, was limited to New York City when it debuted early last year, but has since expanded to the New York City suburbs, including parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. It plans to expand to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and 18 other U.S. markets this spring.
Aereo Chief Executive Chet Kanojia said the legal OK for Aereo's service is now the "law of the land" with or without Fox.
"We believe that broadcasting in this country, irrespective of Fox, is a very powerful, fundamental presence," he said. If Fox exits the space, "we think somebody will be there to take advantage of that great idea of reaching this mass audience."
Analyst Todd Juenger of Bernstein Research speculated in a research note in January on what would make broadcast networks transition to a pay TV model.
Such a system would result in the loss of local news programs, broadcast personalities and advertising. But a pay TV system could be better for network owners such as Fox if services like Aereo were to thrive, because doing so would cut off technology that siphons away customers from pay TV operators, he wrote.
News Corp.'s stock rose 77 cents, or 2.5 percent, to close Monday at $31.41.
Carbon's role in planetary atmosphere formationPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kevin Stacey Kevin_stacey@brown.edu 401-863-3766 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] A new study of how carbon is trapped and released by iron-rich volcanic magma offers clues about the early atmospheric evolution on Mars and other terrestrial bodies.
The composition of a planet's atmosphere has roots deep beneath its surface. When mantle material melts to form magma, it traps subsurface carbon. As magma moves upward toward the surface and pressure decreases, that carbon is released as a gas. On Earth, carbon is trapped in magma as carbonate and degassed as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that helps Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the sun. But how carbon is transferred from underground to the atmosphere in other planets and how that might influence greenhouse conditions wasn't well understood.
"We know carbon goes from the solid mantle to the liquid magma, from liquid to gas and then out," said Alberto Saal, professor of geological sciences at Brown and one of the study's authors. "We want to understand how the different carbon species that are formed in the conditions that are relevant to the planet affect the transfer."
This latest study, which also included researchers from Northwestern University and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, indicated that under conditions like those found in the mantles of Mars, the Moon and other bodies, carbon is trapped in the magmas mainly as a species called iron carbonyl and released as carbon monoxide and methane gas. Both gasses, methane especially, have high greenhouse potential.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that when volcanism was widespread early in Mars' history, it may have released enough methane to keep the planet significantly warmer than it is today.
A key difference between conditions in Earth's mantle and the mantles of other terrestrial bodies is what scientists refer to as oxygen fugacity, the amount of free oxygen available to react with other elements. Earth's mantle today has a relatively high oxygen fugacity, but in bodies like the Moon and early Mars, it is very low. To find out what how that lower oxygen fugacity affects carbon transfer, the researchers set up a series of experiments using volcanic basalt similar to those found on the Moon and Mars.
They melted the volcanic rock at varying pressures, temperature, and oxygen fugacities, using a powerful spectrometer to measure how much carbon was absorbed by the melt and in what form. They found that at low oxygen fugacities, carbon was trapped as iron carbonyl, something previous research hadn't detected. At lower pressures, iron carbonyl degassed as carbon monoxide and methane.
"We found that you can dissolve in the magma more carbon at low oxygen fugacity than what was previously thought," said Diane Wetzel, a Brown graduate student and the study's lead author. "That plays a big role in the degassing of planetary interiors and in how that will then affect the evolution of atmospheres in different planetary bodies."
Early in its history, Mars was home to giant active volcanoes, which means significant amounts of methane would have been released by carbon transfer. Because of methane's greenhouse potential, which is much higher than that of carbon dioxide, the findings suggest that even a thin atmosphere early in Mars' history might have created conditions warm enough for liquid water on the surface.
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Other authors on the paper were Malcolm Rutherford from Brown, Steven Jacobson from Northwestern. and Erik Hauri from the Carnegie Institution. The work was supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Deep Carbon Observatory.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Carbon's role in planetary atmosphere formationPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kevin Stacey Kevin_stacey@brown.edu 401-863-3766 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] A new study of how carbon is trapped and released by iron-rich volcanic magma offers clues about the early atmospheric evolution on Mars and other terrestrial bodies.
The composition of a planet's atmosphere has roots deep beneath its surface. When mantle material melts to form magma, it traps subsurface carbon. As magma moves upward toward the surface and pressure decreases, that carbon is released as a gas. On Earth, carbon is trapped in magma as carbonate and degassed as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that helps Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the sun. But how carbon is transferred from underground to the atmosphere in other planets and how that might influence greenhouse conditions wasn't well understood.
"We know carbon goes from the solid mantle to the liquid magma, from liquid to gas and then out," said Alberto Saal, professor of geological sciences at Brown and one of the study's authors. "We want to understand how the different carbon species that are formed in the conditions that are relevant to the planet affect the transfer."
This latest study, which also included researchers from Northwestern University and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, indicated that under conditions like those found in the mantles of Mars, the Moon and other bodies, carbon is trapped in the magmas mainly as a species called iron carbonyl and released as carbon monoxide and methane gas. Both gasses, methane especially, have high greenhouse potential.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that when volcanism was widespread early in Mars' history, it may have released enough methane to keep the planet significantly warmer than it is today.
A key difference between conditions in Earth's mantle and the mantles of other terrestrial bodies is what scientists refer to as oxygen fugacity, the amount of free oxygen available to react with other elements. Earth's mantle today has a relatively high oxygen fugacity, but in bodies like the Moon and early Mars, it is very low. To find out what how that lower oxygen fugacity affects carbon transfer, the researchers set up a series of experiments using volcanic basalt similar to those found on the Moon and Mars.
They melted the volcanic rock at varying pressures, temperature, and oxygen fugacities, using a powerful spectrometer to measure how much carbon was absorbed by the melt and in what form. They found that at low oxygen fugacities, carbon was trapped as iron carbonyl, something previous research hadn't detected. At lower pressures, iron carbonyl degassed as carbon monoxide and methane.
"We found that you can dissolve in the magma more carbon at low oxygen fugacity than what was previously thought," said Diane Wetzel, a Brown graduate student and the study's lead author. "That plays a big role in the degassing of planetary interiors and in how that will then affect the evolution of atmospheres in different planetary bodies."
Early in its history, Mars was home to giant active volcanoes, which means significant amounts of methane would have been released by carbon transfer. Because of methane's greenhouse potential, which is much higher than that of carbon dioxide, the findings suggest that even a thin atmosphere early in Mars' history might have created conditions warm enough for liquid water on the surface.
###
Other authors on the paper were Malcolm Rutherford from Brown, Steven Jacobson from Northwestern. and Erik Hauri from the Carnegie Institution. The work was supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Deep Carbon Observatory.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday, April 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Mohamed Torokman, Pool)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday, April 7, 2013. (AP Photo/Mohamed Torokman, Pool)
JERUSALEM (AP) ? A dormant, decade-old Mideast peace plan has suddenly emerged as a possible key to breaking years of deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians.
A top Palestinian official said Sunday that the visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed interest in reviving the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, a 2002 plan in which the Arab world offered comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a full pullout from all territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Arab officials confirmed the Arab League was set to discuss the matter on Monday.
The initiative was revolutionary when it was introduced by Saudi Arabia's then crown prince, King Abdullah, and later endorsed by the 22-member Arab League at a summit in Beirut. However, the plan was overshadowed by fierce Israeli-Palestinian fighting at the time and greeted with skepticism by Israel. The Arab League re-endorsed the plan in 2007, and technically, the offer remains in effect.
Key obstacles remain. Israel has not softened its objections to the plan, and the Palestinians turned down a request from Kerry for changes in it.
In the 1967 war, Israel took control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Sinai and Golan Heights. Israeli returned the Sinai to Egypt in 1982 in the framework of a peace treaty and pulled out of Gaza unilaterally in 2005. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, and peace talks with Syria over the territory have repeatedly failed.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been deadlocked since late 2008, in large part over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians refuse to talk while Israel settles its population on the occupied territories where they want to establish their state. They have demanded that Israel accept the 1967 lines as the basis for a future Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a return to the 1967 lines and calls for talks with no preconditions.
The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation has also endorsed the 2002 Arab peace initiative.
The plan, if adopted, considers the Arab-Israeli conflict "ended," offers "normal relations" with Israel and calls for providing "security for all the states of the region."
Israel has rejected a return to the 1967 lines for both security and spiritual reasons. Israeli leaders have long argued that the 1967 frontiers are indefensible. In addition, a return to those boundaries would mean a withdrawal from east Jerusalem, home to the city's holiest Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites.
Israel has annexed east Jerusalem, and Netanyahu has vowed never to share control of the sensitive area. The Palestinians say there can be no peace without establishing their capital in east Jerusalem. These conflicting claims to east Jerusalem are perhaps the most emotional and explosive issue in the conflict.
Kerry on Sunday kicked off what is expected to be several months of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians with a stop in the West Bank for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.
It was not immediately clear whether the Arab initiative came up in Sunday night's talks. A senior State Department official said the meeting "included a discussion on how to create a positive climate for negotiations," but that Kerry had asked all participants to keep the details confidential. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of Kerry's orders not to brief reporters.
Abbas spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said Abbas urged Israel to release Palestinian prisoners it is holding, called on Israel to halt settlement construction and urged Israel to commit to a solution based on the 1967 lines. He did not say whether the Arab peace initiative was discussed but confirmed Abbas was leaving Monday for talks on the plan at an Arab League meeting in Qatar.
Mohammed Subeih, the Arab League's undersecretary for Palestinian affairs, confirmed a special committee on the peace initiative would hold "an urgent meeting" in Doha on Monday.
He said the prime minister of Qatar would chair the meeting, and foreign ministers of key countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Palestinians, would attend. The Arab League's chief Nabil El-Araby is also expected, he said.
Subeih said the committee would form a delegation, chaired by El-Araby and the Qatari prime minister, to travel to Washington in the coming weeks. In Washington, the delegation will try together with the American side draw a road map to "end Israeli occupation," he said.
Earlier Sunday, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Kerry has been floating the Arab initiative as a possible way out of the deadlock.
Officials say Kerry has proposed two small changes to make it more palatable to Israel, saying the 1967 lines could be modified through mutual agreement and pressing for stronger security guarantees. Security-obsessed Israel has grown increasingly jittery during the upheaval that has swept through the Middle East over the past two years.
Speaking to the Voice of Palestine radio station, Erekat said the plan could not be changed. "Kerry asked us to change few words in the Arab Peace Initiative but we refused," he said.
Israeli officials refused to comment on the matter. An Israeli official said the Israelis were planning to offer "a wide spectrum of ideas" to Kerry when they meet with him in the current days. The official declined to elaborate. He spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing has been formally presented yet.
In the past, Netanyahu has described the Arab peace initiative as a welcome sign of acceptance from the Arab world but refused to accept it in its current form. Netanyahu has said that presenting the plan as an ultimatum would undermine negotiations.
But after years of deadlock, and growing international isolation over continued Israeli settlement construction, Netanyahu could find himself in a difficult position if the offer is again extended.
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AP writers Mohammed Daraghmeh and Bradley Klapper in Ramallah, West Bank and Hamza Hendawi in Cairo contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
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