ISRAELI Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday acknowledged Palestinians' "national aspirations" and extended his hand in peace to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But, in his address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, he warned, Israel “will not give a terrorist regime a veto over progress or allow it to take hope hostage.”

Mr. Olmert was referring to the Hamas-led Palestinian government which was elected to power earlier this year. Israel, the U.S. and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organisation. Mr. Olmert also said Israel will draw its own borders in the West Bank if it finds it has no negotiating partner among the Palestinians.

Critics of unilateral disengagement from the West Bank contend that the Israeli withdrawal last year from the Gaza Strip should not be seen as a success. Unless the West Bank is connected to Gaza, they say, it will not be economically or politically viable.

Mr. Olmert told lawmakers “the Palestinians will forever be our neighbors; they are an inseparable part of this land, as are we. Israel has no desire to rule over them nor to oppress them. They, too, have a right for freedom and national aspirations.”

After a meeting with President George W. Bush on Tuesday, Mr. Olmert had said he would meet Mr. Abbas in the near future. He said if negotiations were not successful Israel would act unilaterally. “We will not wait indefinitely,” he said. “We cannot be held hostage by a terrorist entity which refuses to change or to promote dialogue.” Mr. Bush has offered tentative support for Mr. Olmert’s West Bank disengagement plan.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to ban U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority, to deny visas to its leaders and to cut off diplomatic contacts with the ruling Hamas. The measure also seeks to cut off aid to non-governmental groups working in the West Bank and Gaza except for health programmes.

The White House opposed the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act. “The bill is unnecessary as the executive branch already has ample authority to impose all its restrictions and it constrains the executive's flexibility to use sanctions,” the State Department said in a statement. In the Senate, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden, have a similar, but less restrictive, bill.

Samar Assad, executive director of the Palestine Center in Washington, admitted that every country has the right to allocate its money to whichever cause it wants. “But the U.S. doesn’t have the right to impose its laws on other nations, and intimidate the international community over the transfer of money to the Palestinians,” Ms. Assad told the Tribune.

The Palestine Center noted that House resolution, as passed, does not only target officials from the current ruling party. It derails any diplomatic contact with those who seek an end to conflict and a two-state solution based on mutual security and recognition. The resolution targets the Palestinian people, NGOs and Palestinian civil society as a whole by naming the Palestinian Territory and the Palestinian Authority as a terrorist entity and by severely restricting aid and civil support for Palestinians and Palestinian institutions. Contrary to the arguments of its supporters, the center said, such broad overreaching bans limit the U.S. administration’s efforts to realize the two-state solution and bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which, if not secured, will damage U.S. national security interests.

Cannes, May 25
Penelope Cruz, riding a massive high following the rave notices at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Pedro Almodovar’s evocative cross-generational drama “Volver”, has confirmed that her India-centric film project will be off the blocks soon.

However, a director is not yet in place for the English language film backed by her own newly launched company, 88 Producciones. The film, based on a celebrated novel by Javier Moro, “Indian Passion”, revolves around a real life turn-of-the-century flamenco dancer who falls in love with and marries an Indian maharaja.

Cruz is slated to play the role of the dancer whose affair with the maharaja begins when he attends the wedding of the then Spanish King. — IANS

London, May 25
An exhibition here of noted Indian artist M.F. Hussain’s paintings has been cancelled following protests from Britian-based Hindu organisations against the depiction of some mythological figures in his works. Asia House, the organisers of the exhibition, however, cited ‘‘security’’ reasons for the cancellation.

The Hindu Forum of Britain had alleged that the paintings had outraged Hindus across the world, and had planned a protest on Saturday outside the venue.

The exhibition, inaugurated by Indian High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma, had begun on May 10 and was to remain open until August 5.

Noted economist Lord Meghnad Desai criticised the Forum for exerting pressure to cancel the exhibition.