PA negotiator: Israel to blame for stalled peace talks
'The gap is still wide and Israel does not give a single sign of meeting its obligations,' says Saeb Erekat.
By Reuters Tags: Hillary Clinton Israel newsIsraeli-Palestinian peace talks are unlikely to resume any time soon, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Monday, blaming Israel for the impasse and urging Washington to do the same.
"The gap is still wide and Israel does not give a single sign of meeting its obligations under the road map, halting settlement activities and resuming negotiations where they left off," he told Voice of Palestine radio.
"I do not see any possibility for restarting peace talks in the near future," Erekat said.
The U.S.-backed peace "road map" of 2003, which charts a course to Palestinian statehood, commits Israel to halting settlement activity in the West Bank.
"If President [Barack] Obama's administration cannot make Israel abide by its commitments, it has to announce that Israel is the party that is obstructing the launching of peace negotiations," Erekat said, referring the road map agreements.
Resisting U.S. pressure to comply, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a complete cessation of construction within settlements, saying the needs of growing settler families must be accommodated.
Israel also accuses Palestinians of failing to meet their road map commitments to curb violence and incitement against Israel - notably by Hamas Islamists who have controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Netanyahu has also rejected Palestinian demands to abide by what they said were land-for-peace understandings reached with his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, in a year of negotiations that followed a U.S.-sponsored peace conference in November 2007.
Clinton's assessment
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed Obama a less-than-glowing assessment of Middle East peace efforts.
Her status report followed separate meetings in Washington between Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, and Israeli and Palestinian negotiators aimed at narrowing the gap and restarting direct talks suspended since December.
Obama is sending Mitchell back to the region for a fresh attempt at restarting peace talks, and Clinton will consult with Arab foreign ministers on the subject in Morocco in early November, a U.S. administration official said last week.
Netanyahu has called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations immediately without preconditions.
Locked in a power struggle with Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, Abbas last week called presidential and parliamentary elections for January - but Hamas said it would not cooperate, raising the possibility any vote could further deepen the schism between the West Bank and Hamas-run Gaza.
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Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat. |
| Photo by: (Daniel Baron) |
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There were no settlements. Yet 1967 was the 3rd War against Israel. In addition there were hundreds if not thousands of terrorist attacks against Israel between 1948-1967. So your "settlements as an obstacle to peace" doesn't hold water. Maybe, just maybe it's the 8000 rocket attacks against civilian targets, the indoctrination of the Palestinian children to hate Jews from birth or Hamas and its refusal to even accept Israels right to exist. What do you think? You think the Palestinians have put up obstacles? or is all Israels fault? Never mind I think I know your answer.
Each time the Golan Heights was returned, Israel was "thanked" by constant shooting down at them. Same goes now with Gaza. Missiles launched from Gaza while under Palestinian control. There can not be peace with these people; maybe you're too young to remember the slaughter at Munich, Leon Klinghoffer, the murder of our beloved Bobby Kennedy.....peace as co-equals between Israel and the Palestinians is not possible.....they don't want it. They want Israel's destruction, and Israel will not accommodate them. Also, never in history has the loser in a conflict ever dictated peace terms to the victorious. Never. Find ONE example.
That is why there is no peace process.
You are 'agree' with Erekat about what ? About not telling the truth ?! The Palestinians do not agree among themselves ? How that can be an Israeli problem ?! What is the use of agreeing with Abbas if Heneiya dosen't agree with him or vis-a-vis which is the same ! The palestinians are different things to an Israel that have no one single massage from them. Erekat talking about 'peace talk' that has many shape & many forms among the palestinians. And no one can make the Palestinians with one single voice; certainly this is not a job for Israel to do. Erekat is talking nonsense; blame Israel for something that he can't do himself i.e "Palestinians with one voice"..
There are no 'stalled' peace talks. There are no peace talks at all. Erekat should just pack it in. The Palestinians have no 'partner for peace' and those who believe only in war control Israel. Which means that those who believe only in war on both sides have won. Abbas and his ilk should pack it in. Likud and Hamas are in the driver's seats. And anyone who doesn't understand that neither of them want a peaceful solution has missed the last 30 years.
Funny how just last week, Erekat himself said we will not talk to Israel but only the US. So if you ask me, its the Pals who are stallingand avoiding peace.
Negotiations could have started long ago if Israel also committed to halting settlements in the West Bank and the U.S. supports this stage in the peace process. In addition to this responsibility, the present government must continue at the point where negotiations ended with the Olmert Government. Each side is blaming the other for the impasse, but we haven't seen the U.S. take a decisive position to move the process forward. It's up to the Quartet to take a decisive stand as well. There was some talk of using the U.N. resolutions 242 and 338, so what happened here? To always wait around for the right leaderships is not the answer, because everyone knows what has to be implemented and it's too bad time is wasted because the alternatives in the future could be worse than the difficulties we are having currently in all the region of the Middle East.
When the Likud stops backing the expansion of the settlements, that will become a good sign that Israel wants to talk peace. The Arab Peace Proposal has been "out there on the table." It's a good starting place.
because he reneged on the settlement agreement that the US had with Israel. (See Olmert's article in the Washington Post)
No peace talks till Gilad Shalit is home safe with his family, till Hamas accepts Israel as a Jewish state with its democratic values, and when the Palestinians accept living amongst Jews.
Israel says they will talk right now without preconditions... they Pals say no... its clear who is holding up negotiations...
Oh let's have a little perspective here. Israel is gobbling up land with its ever expanding settlements, demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, punishing the entire population of Gaza for the actions of a few, threatening a pre-emptive strike against neighboring Iran because it wants to develop nuclear energy, all the while raking in huge sums of money from the US to continue it high living off other people.
Abbas has stated that the Palestinians will not resume negotiations until Israel freezes west bank construction. This suits Israel who happily increases the rate of west bank consuction and blames the Palestinians for stalled negotiations. All of this is very transparent to Obama, who has turned out to be a hand wringer and a paper tiger from Israels standpoint.
When have they ever taken even a shred of responsibility for something they did? They are apparently beyond guilt.
It would cut off the funding they get from dozens of countries. The PA get money from everywhere, countries like Iran and Syria only give money if the conflict continues. So the challenge is how cal the Palestinians keep the conflict going and make it appear to be Israels fault. As we all know there is nothing preventing the Palestinians from coming to the table to talk peace. Sadly this issue is in the Palestinians hand simply stop the rocket attacks, sniper attacks and calling for war. Stop indoctrinating their children with hate for Jews and love of death. It is the Palestinian mindset that is at fault.
... and merits 'not a single sign from Israel' . "The gap is still wide and Israel does not give a single sign ..." Saeb Erkat Surprisingly, Erkat can't see the problem in his own house ! Or, is't blaming Israel is a habit the Palestinians can't change !
You and the palestinians have done nothing in 62 years to try to live peacefully with Israel and the jews. Any of your peacemaking proposals are pure BS and are empty. Your palestinians will continue to wallow in misery because of the incompetent pal leadership that only wants to destroy Israel
Peace talks are useful to the extent they restrain Palestinian violence. Given the positions of the 2 parties on the core issues, the talks aren't going to resolve much and thereby restrain violence.Despite the effort to tie Israel's hands with Goldstone the Gaza and Lebanese wars are what restrain the Palestinians as well as retaliation for random Palestinian missiles. Peace talks are useful when there is a breakthrough on core issues. Otherwise, they are just showtime for the diplomatic community.
The ones in Gaza or the ones in West Bank or the ones up on the Temple Mount. How many Roadmaps do they want?