Abbas: I don't want to declare unilateral statehood

"do you like the money the U.S and other countries give you that much more then freedom for your people" Silly question, like any Arab leader, in his mind and pocketbook he comes first and foremost The longer he keeps the situation roiled, the more money he can accumualte and ship off to his foreign bank accounts He's following in Arfat's footsteps, a goniff to the end

Also had U.S. assurances that there would be a anti-rocket shield to protect them, promed ty Dubya Then Obama reneged, there went the assurances Obama also promised that his Obamacare wouldn't cost money, it would save Now the truth comes out, Obama's assurances aren't worth zilch, nada, zero, zip, written in sand, blown away with the wind

The Palestinians now have U.S. assurances that there will be consequences for israel if they don't live up to their side of the bargain.

they always say no... they want from the west bank of the jordan river to the sea. they are thugs and murderers

"If he declares a state, Israel will return back to the status quo and occupy all the WB " That'd be war, waged on Israel's part.

"Unilateral declaration of a foreign Palestinian state would be illegal.." How? ".. and a declaration of war against Israel" 1 How? " It would be a final suicide of Palestinian aspirations" How? "Abbas is smart not to declare war on Israel again" GoTo 1

have been honest with their people during the past 62 years, he could set the standards for Abbas to follow Name one, just one!!!

If and when a Palestinian State is declared, the various factions will fight over who controls it, resulting in Civil Wars, and both sides will be worse off than before We only have to look at Iraq & Afghanistan for examples of internal dissension

Declare a state within the green line and it will be recognised by the world. The green line is the starting point and anything else, Israel has to negotiate for. If the Jews within the West Bank want to stay put, then they can become Jewish Palestinians. Just as there are Palestinian Israelis. Tally Ho.

do you like the money the U.S and other countries give you that much more then freedom for your people

If he declares a state, Israel will return back to the status quo and occupy all the WB and impose civil adminstrations like pre first intifada. Arafat was known as Abbas was, until he finally woke up from the bad dream and did not accept the "generous" offer of Barak at Camp David. At least Fayyad has goals and aspirations for a future state of Palestine with his economic expertise. Abbas wants to keep the status quo of allowing Israel to rule Palestine by proxy.

Because a unilateral declaration of statehood is REALLY what's needed, and the world community is about ready to recognize it!

He needs to be honest with his people and let them know its too late for two states and he is powerless to deliver on the promise...on second thought hes really the only one who doesnt realize it

If Netanyahu negotiates in good faith, a unilateral declaration may not be necessary. The world will see. But if it is necessary, it would not be the first instance of a unilateral declaration. It seems that Israel did something similar and got recognized first by an ornery old man in the US.

This is obviously Abbas' compromise to Israel and the US. Everyone knows Israel would be royaly screwed if Fayyad declared an independent Palestine since the rest of the intl community, including the US, would recognize it. This would have put israel in a corner because depending on what borders Fayyad would have declared Palestine, would have put Israel illegally into a sovereign state. Abbas is no credible leader and should step aside and let a person with merit like Fayyad run the entire show. Out with the old guard...

Unilateral declaration of a foreign Palestinian state would be illegal and a declaration of war against Israel. It would be a final suicide of Palestinian aspirations. Abbas is smart not to declare war on Israel again.

Are you taking orders from the Arab League now, Abbas? Then its no wonder that you don't have a state yet. What about Hamastan in the Gaza Strip? Are you including it in your caliphate? Where's the goddamned border? Are you including East Jerusalem as an exclave in your futuristic Islamic Republic of Palestine? What about being a demilitarized state? What about water rights? What about "refugees" and all of their descendants in perpetuity?

That's huge news!!!!! Why is this buried in this article??????????????????

On 15 November 1988, the PLO proclaimed the independent State of Palestine. And what good did it do? That proclamation is all but forgotten. In this case Abbas is correct - there needs to be negotiations before a state can be declared.

And part of the Negev.

Because a unilateral declaration of statehood is REALLY what's needed, and the world community is about ready to recognize it!

Abbas appears to be a man of great integrity which actually puts him at a bit of a a disadvantage in dealing with Israel which doesn't seem too interested in that particular virtue. The excessive generosity the US has paid to Israel has left it with a wholly spoiled mentality. Any final deal between the Palestinians and Israel will necessarily allow Israel to keep many of the illegal West Bank settlements that its "fact-on-the-ground" policy have made impossible to evacuate. Thus any final settlement will leave israel with this forever stain on reputation.

To make a state viable, Fatah needs to secure financing from some of the Arab States and other international financial groups to provide more jobs, profits, infrastructure, and taxes.

patches on the knees of his pants. Both sides need new leadership at this point, it seems to me.

But Hamas may participate in Knesset elections as well. The only solution of the PA/Hamas conflict.

Why not? This would seem to be a great step forward. Let Fayyad build the infrastructure and government and then actually make a state. One with real responsibilities. Maybe a declaration of independence similar to Israel's! The only thing to negotiate beforehand is how to arrange it so Israel can be the first country to recognize Palestine! A society with a self-fulfilling goal of improving matters rather than a national dream of constant war. Imprisonment of Shalit? on what charges? by what court? Build a country with some concept of justice and some capacity for governance and stop pandering to terrorist thugs.

....and replace him with Fayyad. Because then it looks like Abbas is simply happy with enjoying his good life in Ramallah (including lot's of traveling abroad), and doesn't care a bit about the suffering of his people....