Abbas seeks clarification from U.S. on peace talks offer

You cite the same gibberish over and over again, and frankly have been rebutted on all your remarks. You and Carter have the same playbook, you quote official sounding language all taken out of context. What you do is lie through omission. You talk about UN resolutions and the Geneva convention violations without mentioning there is a valid legal basis to refute all you just cited. You take the approach of repeat a lie often enough and people begin to think it's the truth. The bias nature of your assaults upon Israel reveal your true nature, your selective outrage and hollow moral indignation are just a cover for your brand of hate.

17: "Could you please elaborate?" 1) Here is a trust fund. 2) These are its assets. 3) Here are the two beneficiaries: "A" and "B". 4) Let me introduce you to "Mr. Trustee". Mr. Trustee wants to wind up the trust, and he decides to do so by dividing the assets between A and B, *thus* and *so*. Q: Did A or B previously "own" these assets? A: No, the assets have been held "in trust". Q: Does A now have a "right" to his portion? A: Yeah, didn't you listen to Mr. Trustee? Q: Can B claim all the assets for himself? A: No more than A can i.e. no, he can't. Q: But what if B snatches up all of it? A: Then B is "a thief", and that does not affect A's legal right to claim what is his. Q: Even if A never took possession of his share? A: That does not affect his right to claim his share. Does that help explain it all to you, 17?

Abbas should start talks, subject to understanding where the US is likely to end up on final status issues. Israel will only listen to the US, and then very begrudgingly, so the US position becomes paramount. Mitchell/Clinton/Obama will need to be more than mere messengers, and Abbas needs to know he is neither wasting his time, nor embarrassing himself and getting peoples' hopes up. He should insist on media transparency through the talks, so we can all decide who blinks, and who is reasonable and who is not.

Esther, Abbas is an old man and he has little time. He has seen what happened when the Palestinians agreed to peace and let the future devolve to 'final status agreements.' There were no 'final status talks.' Just drastically increased settlement activity. Abbas insists upon the termination of settlement expansion for a very simple reason. Israel has ALWAYS used talks as an excuse while expanding settlements. I did not create this 'fact upon the ground.' Nor has Abbas created this 'fact upon the ground.' indeed ONLY those totally ignorant of the history of Israel will not understand what I am saying when I use the term 'fact upon the ground.' The only thing which has changed is the fact that Israelis do not wish to admit what they were so happy to applaud in the past. Facts upon the ground. No sane person in the world will ever accept the idea that Israel may continue to create facts upon the ground until there is no Palestine left.

Good Lord, man. You're incredible. Every blessed article, every blessed day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And you're there with your Israel-denegrating comments. Don't you ever sleep, eat, shop, go the bathroom, read a book/newspaper, engage in a hobby, socialize with friends/relatives, or leave the house for any other reason? It's all the same from you, isn't it? No matter the article, no matter the story, no matter the theme, your response is always the same...Israel=bad. Israel=wrong. What a sick guy.

Yonatan, the current government of Israel has no intention of there EVER being any Palestine. Nothing Abbas can do will ever change that fact. All Abbas can hope to do is preserve the idea that he was willing to compromise when Israel was not willing to compromise at all. The systematic destruction of American influence in the region started by George W. Bush will ultimately end in the necessity of a future American president to cut our losses. Obama might lack the balls to do anything, but in the future an American president WIILL have to do what is necessary. Then Israel will find it has screwed it's last friend.

Esther from Tel Aviv must be just about the last person in the world who still believes in Abbas' "cause" (more money from foreign aid). If she has started to criticise him imagine what they must be saying on the street in his eternal capital, Ramallah. His term has expired!

VH: "where did these alleged rights originate cj ?" From the recognition by the UN and all but *one* of its member states that the Palestinians do, indeed, have those rights. VH: "the mythical palestinians dont even legally exxist" What nonsense is: "LEGALLY exists"? VictorPaul is insisting that the Palestinians do not "qualify" as a recognizable people i.e. as an ethnicity. VictorPaul, it isn't actually up to anyone else to deny the "existence" of ANY ethnicity i.e. they, and they alone, get to make that call. I'll point out, in passing, that according to Shlomo Sand your same argument applies to "the Jewish people" i.e. the concept itself is a zionist invention from the 19th century, and that prior to that there was merely "Judaism" i.e. a minor religion with odd practices and an eclectic mix of devotees all over the world. Still, I have no doubt you have one standard for yourself, and quite another for A-rabs, heh?

Every day more and more people recognize that Israel/Palestine is already a single state controlled by Israel. It's just a matter of time before the world demnds an end to apartheid and insists that all people living anywhere in the state have a vote, which in the end will bring an end to Israel's absolute control, and ultimately an end to the Zionist state. So Israel, in its unwavering efforts to avoid giving the Palestinians their freedom and independence, has succeeded in creating an irreversible situation where there can never be separate states. Congratulations, Israel. And thanks.

In some circles, it could be interpreted as an assault on ones intelligence for a Jew to blame Abbas as an obstructionist to peace when Israel has occupied Palestinian territory for 42 years, refused to withdraw from those territories in violation of international law and UN resolutions, and built on those territories and annexed Jerusalem in violation of UN resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention and therefore in commission of a war crime. The same Israel that is violating human rights and in violation of article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention for blockading Gaza and there also in commission of a war crime for collective punishment of a civilian population. What in the world could Abbas do to compete with that record of hostility an obstructionism?

Abbas can wait as long as he likes and he'll at worst end up with a bi-national state. It's Bibi who really needs the peace deal, although he doesn't act like he realizes it.

Sir, Could you please elaborate? ps. and please do not mix "rights" and "wishes"

where did these alleged rights originate cj ? the mythical palestinians dont even legally exxist 1

"The longer Abbas pays games.." Wanting ones RIGHTS, common to all humanity, is not a game. ".. the less he`ll get" Were you a Palestinian or in a similar situation.... "But why should he care?" UH? " He;s old, may not have long to live, and can always pass the buck to his successor, should he have one" Goodness, you do have it bad.

nothing is going to happen there will be no talk .lots of talk .photo session,but no gain no one is sincere about peace

But why should he care? He;s old, may not have long to live, and can always pass the buck to his successor, should he have one.

It isn't Abbas who's the problem, it's the 61 years Israel has refused to adhere to the laws it voluntarily obliged itself to. Time it was booted out of the UN and any leader still alive since 1948 dragged before the courts. A good swift kick up the Kyber!

Bibi has declared that: (1) Jerusalem will never contain the capital of a Palestinian state and will always be part of Israel; (2) Israel will never accept the '67 borders and will not compensate the Palestinians hectare for hectare for the settlement blocks; (3) Israel will not allow a single Palestinian refugee to return to Israel, and (4) the IDF will always have a presence on the Jordanian border. Meanwhile Lieberman has blurted out the truth: there won't be any agreement on final status issues for "years to come," if ever. What Bibi desperately wants is a fig leaf to cover up the truth: Israel is an apartheid state and the Palestinians will never have equal political rights within it. Abu Mazen: speak the truth to the world. Dissolve the PA and announce the beginning to the 'Equal Rights for Arabs, Stop Israel's Apartheid' campaign.

I intend to demand 100.000$ from him. If he doesn't pay everybody would blame him. If he does ,so I'm satisfied and his ridiculous objections to my demands would be punctured

... get MOVING sir, and haggle about the nitty-gritty while the process has already been set in motion... this bad habbit of serial procrastination will not earn you anything... on the contrary, you are loosing something every day... this plea is in genuine sympathy for your belated cause...

Abbas has made an offer to get around backing down on a settlement freeze. If the US accepts it and Netanyahu refuses then Abbas will have pinned the failure firmly on Netanyahu. If Netanyahu accepts his goal of thwarting any talks will have been defeated.

Not at any time in history the palestinians didn't wants it in any way than their way ! The end result, they end with nothing and still blame Israel as an exist for their humiliation ! Abbas is no different ! Why ? Because he is not a match to hamas ?!